The Trouble With Girls
by Hannahfour
Summary: Brian finds out that having a serious relationship with a girl isn't as easy as he thought it was going to be. Especially when he finds out he has competition. Guthrie and Heidi try to help him out, but that's not as easy as they thought it was going to be either.
1. Chapter 1

"Come on Heidi," John says, "we need to make our plan."

John is really starting to bug me. This is lunch recess and I want to spend it playing with Denise and not siting around with a bunch of boys trying to think of a stupid plan. Well, that's not completely true. I love thinking up plans, but these boys won't listen to me anyways, so why should I waste my whole recess listening to a bunch of dumb boys? Besides, Guthrie's over there with them. I'll just ask him what the plan is after school.

"Heidi, everyone's waiting," John says. He sounds annoyed when he says that. I look over at the group of five boys sitting on the grass underneath the big oak tree.

"No they're not! See, they're already talking. I bet they're coming up with a plan without you."

John looks at the group of boys and then back at me. "Come on Heidi!" He says again, only this time he's yelling a little bit and he sounds really mad.

That's it! I'm tired of him trying to boss me around. I march right up to him and yell, "no! You're not gonna treat _me_ like a horse!" Then I punch him right in the face and everything is quiet. It's like time is standing still. John looks shocked and he wipes the blood from his nose with his sleeve and looks at it.

What did I do? Why did I do that? Oh man, I wish I hadn't done that! I open my mouth to say I'm sorry but I don't get a chance to because someone is yelling my name. Loudly.

"Heidi McFadden! My office now!"

I turn around and look behind me at the principal, Mr. Brick. He looks mad. He's walking over here fast and his face is red. It gets red when he's mad. He yells again.

"Go to my office right now!" He yells at me. He looks at John and says, "John, go to the office and have Ms. Trent look at your nose and help you get cleaned up."

"But Mr. Brick," I say, "I didn't mean to..."

"I don't want to talk about it now!" he yells. "Go to my office and wait for me on the bench!"

I glare at him and then I look at John and his bloody nose. I did that. I feel so bad. He's looking at me too, and he doesn't look happy, but the weird thing is, he doesn't look mad either. He looks confused. I feel confused. I've got to get out of here! I run as fast as I can off the playground towards the office.

I know I shouldn't of punched John, but he was making me feel so mad! I'm not gonna let any boy treat me like a horse! Now I just have to figure out how to explain that to Adam.

I already know he's gonna tell me I need to think before I do something. Especially when it's something wrong like punching someone. This is all Brian's fault!

* * *

><p><strong>Earlier that week...<strong>

"I am so excited!" I tell Guthrie as I put an egg in my basket. "I can't wait until five o'clock!"

"I know, I can't wait either!"

I put the last few eggs the hens laid in my basket and Guthrie and I walk out of the chicken coop and lock the gate behind us. Adam, Hannah, Brian and Crane are going on a triple date tonight and Ford and his girlfriend, Cleo, are babysitting us. Well, they're not _babysitting_ us, they're just watching us. We told Adam we didn't need to be watched because I'm ten now and Guthrie's twelve, but he didn't agree with us. He said something about us not being responsible enough. He was talking to both of us, but he was only looking at me when he said that. Anyways, I'm happy Cleo's coming over. She's been coming over a lot lately. Her and Ford are working on a 4-H project together.

"Do you think Ford will let us stay up as late as we want to tonight? Or do you think he'll make us go to bed at nine or ten since Cleo's gonna be here?"

"He'll probably let us stay up late," Guthrie says.

It's fun when Ford, Evan or Daniel babysit us because they let us stay up late _and_ eat whatever junk food we want to.

While Guthrie and I are walking to the house Brian comes up from behind and walks with us.

"Are you excited for your big daaaaaaate?" I ask him and I smile real big.

"Yes."

Brian is going on a date with a girl named Laura. Laura used to live in the Sonora, Angels Camp area when she was younger. She moved away to a different state when she graduated from high school. She came out here to visit her aunt and uncle a few months ago and helped out on our ranch when my family went to the rodeo in Reno. Brian went out with her a few times and I think he really liked her a lot because he smiled a lot around her, and she made him laugh a lot too. Brian treated her differently than other girls I've seen him go out with. She's different than some of the girls Brian usually dates too. I don't know how, she just is. I think Laura liked Brian too, but after she was here a month or so, she had to go back home to whatever state she came from.

Laura just moved back to Murphys last week to live with her dad. He's having hip surgery soon, and Laura's going to stay with him to help out around his ranch and take care of him. She came back to Sonora for a funeral and we saw her there. Brian asked her out a day later so this will be her and Brian's first date since she's been back.

"Where are you guys going?" I ask him.

"We're going into Angels Camp to have dinner and then we're going to the dance."

Daniel's band is playing at the hall in Angels Camp. I wish I could go, but this dance is only for grown-ups. I run up the porch steps with my basket of eggs and open the front door. Ford is just coming downstairs to go into the kitchen.

"What time is Cleo coming over?" I ask him.

"Three o'clock. She's working at the feed store right now and when she gets off her mom is going to drive her here."

We walk into the kitchen and it smells good. I love the smell of coffee and bacon in the morning. It's busy in here too. Everyone's in here now. Crane is setting the table and Ford starts to help him. Evan is pouring orange juice into glasses and Adam is peeling potatoes at the sink and handing them to Daniel so he can cut them up for hash browns. Hannah's standing at the stove cooking bacon and Brian walks over to her.

"I'll get the pancakes started," Brian tells her.

I hand Hannah my basket and watch her take each egg out and crack it open on the side of the big frying pan. She cracks them open so easy with just one hand.

"Can I try?" I ask her.

"Sure. Just hold it like this, and..," she taps the egg on the pan and the egg slides out as the shell opens up, "in it goes." The egg sizzles and I reach in the basket and pull out an egg.

"Don't get any shells in the pan," Guthrie says.

"I know," I tell him. I crack the egg on the side of the pan but I think I did it too hard because the whole shell cracks and falls into the pan with the egg.

Guthrie laughs while Hannah scoops out the egg mess.

"Why don't you try," I tell Guthrie and I smile while I hold an egg up to his face.

He takes it and cracks it on the side of the pan and it does the same thing my egg did. It falls into the pan, shell and all.

"See, it's not so easy," I tell him.

"Let me try again," he says as he reaches for another egg.

"No, I'm gonna try first." We both reach for the eggs in the basket and Hannah takes the basket and holds it up high so we can't reach it.

"You'll have to practice another time," she says as she smiles at us. "We need some of these to eat. Why don't you both help set the table."

We run to the silverware drawer and Guthrie opens it. I grab a handful of forks and he grabs the spoons. I hope breakfast is ready soon because I'm starving.

* * *

><p>"Whoa, hold it," Adam says and everyone quiets down. "What do you mean we only have fifty dollars left in the extra account?"<p>

Breakfast has been hectic with everyone busy eating and talking about their plans for the day. I love Saturdays. Especially this one. Guthrie and I get to go exploring _and_ we get to stay up late tonight, but right now everyone's busy talking about money. I don't like it when we have to talk about money. Mostly because we don't have any.

"I checked it twice," Crane says. "We only have fifty dollars left in it."

"But we still have half of the month left," Brian says.

"I know. We've had a few unexpected expenses this month," Crane says. "Evan's rodeo school and Ford joining 4-H again have taken a little more money than I planned on."

"I can always take an extra shift at Marie's," Hannah suggests. I look down at Adam when she says that, because he doesn't like her working. She only works part time, but he still doesn't like it. I can tell he doesn't like it now because his face doesn't look happy while he looks at Hannah.

"I don't want you to work an extra shift. You work too many shifts as it is. I want you here at home," he says.

"Why?" Hannah says and I look at her now. "So I can cook and wash dishes and clean the house?"

"Don't forget the laundry," I tell her. "You do that too."

I hear my brothers laugh quietly, but Hannah's not and neither is Adam. I look at Guthrie and he smiles at me so I smile back.

"You know why I want you home," Adam says.

"Are you guys gonna fight now?" I ask. "Because if you are, can I be excused? Guthrie and I have important stuff to do today and we need to get our chores done first."

"No, we're not going to fight," Adam says. "And what important stuff do you and Guthrie have to do today?" Now he's staring at me so I look at Guthrie. I don't think I'm supposed to say what we're doing. Guthrie wants it to be a secret.

"We're just going exploring," Guthrie says.

"Well, make sure you're back by five o'clock. We don't want to have to go looking for you."

"No," Crane says. "We've got special plans tonight and you don't want three angry brothers that have to spend their evening looking for two little kids instead of eating dinner with three beautiful ladies." He puts his hand on the top of my head and messes my hair up when he says that and I laugh.

"We'll be back in time," Guthrie says. "We don't want you to be late for your date."

"Speaking of our date," Brian says, "how are we going to afford dinner tonight?"

"Just don't order the steak," Crane says and he laughs. "Hopefully the girls won't order the steak either."

"Why don't you just tell them not to?" I ask. "Just tell them they can only order the hamburger tonight."

"Yeah," Guthrie says, "and tell them they have to share the fries."

Everyone laughs and Daniel says, "it doesn't work that way. You don't _tell_ a girl what she has to order."

"Brian says you can tell a girl whatever you want to," Guthrie says.

Crane laughs and says, "maybe _that's_ why you don't have a girlfriend."

Guthrie and I say, "ooooohh."

"I'm working on that little brother," Brian says and he smiles at Crane. "I just think there are certain ways you should treat a girl that work better than other ways."

My brothers laugh.

"You're not going to sing the horse song now, are you?" Guthrie asks and I groan, because Brian starts singing the horse song.

"Sometimes," Brian sings, "you've gotta treat a woman like a horse!"

Both Guthrie and I yell Hannah's line of, "if you want a divorce!"

Everyone laughs and Crane says, "seriously, we need to talk about the budget some more."

I tune everyone out now because it's boring when my brothers talk about money. Instead, I think about Brian's song. What does he mean by it? Hannah doesn't like the song and my brothers laugh and think the song is funny. I wonder why?

"Hannah, why does Brian want to treat a woman like a horse?"

"He doesn't," she says and then she ignores me and talks about money with my brothers.

I don't believe her. He sings the song a lot. I look at Guthrie and he's not listening to my brothers talk about money either.

"Guthrie, how do you treat a woman like a horse?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I guess you have to think about how we treat our horses. I guess that's what he means."

I think about that. "You mean like tie them up?" Sometimes we do that to our horses. We have to tie them to the fence or a tree when we want them to stay in a certain spot. We put saddles on them too, but I know you don't do that to a woman.

Guthrie laughs and says, "no, you don't tie women up. Hurry up and finish eating. I want to get started on my chores so we can leave soon. I'll meet you outside."

He gets up and takes his dishes over to the sink while I think about what Brian means when he says he wants to treat a woman like a horse. I guess I'll have to ask him later.

* * *

><p>"Why can't we tell anyone where we're really going?" I ask Guthrie. We're riding our horses away from the ranch. Hannah packed us a lunch and we have our BB guns with us. We usually take our BB guns when we go looking for bears. My brothers think that's funny because a BB gun isn't going to hurt a bear, but we like having the guns with us just in case we need them. We also brought small shovels with us because we're going to do a lot of digging.<p>

"Because they might not want us to go there," Guthrie says.

"Then why are we going?"

Guthrie stops his horse and turns to look at me. "They're always talking about how we need more money and I thought we could help them."

"Like we did when we panned for gold?" I ask him and I shudder while I remember our horrible experience panning for gold and being chased by bear poachers. "That didn't turn out to be a good plan."

"I know, but this is different. There won't be any bear poachers where we're going."

"I know, just ghosts," I tell him.

"You can't believe the rumors Heidi. And besides, we made three hundred dollars when we panned for gold and we were able to help pay for the new roof."

I sigh. He's right. We did help out a lot with the money we got from the gold.

"Heidi, you said you wanted to go. Are you changing your mind? We can go back home if you want to. I won't be mad. We can go exploring somewhere on the ranch instead. I can always go to the mine some other time."

I don't want Guthrie to go some other time by himself. What if something bad happens to him? "No, I want to go," I tell him. Guthrie pulls on his horse, Chance's, reins and we start up again. "Are you scared?" I ask.

"No. Are you?"

"No," I say only it's not the whole truth. I'm scared a little bit. Everyone says the mine is haunted. I've never been there before, but Guthrie's been there once and he said it was a little scary.

We cross the road at the end of our driveway and follow a path on the other side that leads away from the road. I hope it takes a long time to get there. The longer, the better. It would be great if it took so long to get there that we had to turn right back around when we got there and come home.

The mine is haunted. Everyone says the ghost of an old miner haunts the mine. His name was Jebediah Smith and supposedly he died in the mine trying to bury his treasure. His ghost is supposed to haunt the mine so no one has ever been able to find his treasure. They get too scared because they hear noises in the mine. I hope we don't hear any noises today. I hope, if we have to go in, we find the treasure quick and get out. The sooner the better!

I look around at the land we're riding through. I think this is the Johnson's property. I'm not sure though. If it is the Johnson's property that's ok because we're allowed to go on it. But if it's not their property, I don't know whose it is, and that's not good. That means we're trespassing and we're not allowed to do that. But, really we're not even supposed to leave the ranch without asking first so we're already doing something that's wrong. It's ok though, because we're doing it to help our family. I look ahead at Guthrie riding Chance. I sure hope he knows where we're going.

* * *

><p>I feel like we've been riding for hours when Guthrie finally says the mine is just up ahead. I hope he's right this time, because he's said that three times now and we haven't seen it yet. The path we're following opens up into a clearing and Guthrie pulls on Chance's reins to stop.<p>

"This is it," he says.

I look around. "Where's the mine?" I ask because I don't see one.

Guthrie points over to a hill in front of us. "It's right there."

"_That's_ the mine?" I ask. I'm confused. This doesn't look like any mine I've ever seen, and trust me, when you live in 'gold country' there's _lots_ of old mines to see and I've seen plenty. Especially since our school takes a field trip every year to a mine.

I ride Lucy closer to the hill to get a better look. The mine is small. It's more like a small cave opening instead of a big gold mine opening. Guthrie says it's because this mine was never mined for gold by a big mining company like all the other mines around here. I don't even think there's any gold in it anyways. But, that's not why we're here. We're here because of the treasure. Diamonds.

Jeb was known for carrying diamonds around with him. No one knows where he got them from because there aren't any diamond mines here. The story is, he carried them on him because he thought they were safer that way. He carried them in his pockets and shoes and wherever else he could on his body. He said no one could steal them that way, until someone said they would kill him and take them. Then Jeb said he was gonna bury them somewhere where no one would find them. No one ever saw him again.

"Guthrie? If no one ever saw Jeb again, how do they know he buried his diamonds here?"

"I don't know. I guess someone saw him."

"Or maybe someone murdered him! Maybe someone killed him and stole his diamonds and then they told everyone a lie about him hiding the diamonds here."

"No one murdered him Heidi."

"How do you know?" I ask. He doesn't answer me. I think it's because he really doesn't know.

We dismount and tie Lucy and Chance to a nearby oak tree where there's a small stream. It's perfect for the horses. We unstrap our packs off the horses and carry them over to the tree to lean them against the trunk. Lucy and Chance make their way to the stream and start drinking. I do the same. I find my canteen and unscrew the cap and take a drink. Guthrie looks at his watch.

"It took us an hour to get here so we just have to make sure we leave by four. Three-thirty would probably be better just in case." He reaches into his pack and pulls out his flashlight. "Are you ready?"

I nod my head and pull out my flashlight from my own pack. I'm not ready. I look at the small mine opening. There are wooden boards around the opening, kind of like a door frame. The opening is small. A grown up would have to bend down a little to go inside.

"Guthrie, what if there's a bear inside the mine?"

Guthrie stops at the opening and turns around to look at me. "We can throw a rock in and see if anything comes out." He runs to his pack and picks up his BB gun. "You find a rock and throw it in and if something comes out, I'll shoot it."

"Ok." I look around on the ground and find a baseball sized rock and pick it up. "Like this one?" I hold it up for Guthrie to see.

"Yes. Now throw it in and run behind me." He stands a ways back from the mine opening and takes aim with his gun.

I walk to the opening slowly. I'm scared. What if there's a big bear in there?! I throw the rock as hard as I can, scream, and run behind Guthrie. We wait and watch the opening. We don't hear anything and nothing comes out.

"See, it's safe," Guthrie tells me and he sets his BB gun down by his pack. "Let's go in." He walks to the opening, but I don't follow.

"What about the ghost?" I ask.

He stops and turns to look at me. "That's just a rumor Heidi."

"But what if it's true? What if Jeb's ghost _is_ inside the mine?"

"It's not. Come on Heidi, let's go inside. Once you're in there you won't be scared." He walks inside and I follow him in.

It's dark and cold inside the mine. I almost wish I had a jacket on. It smells damp too. The opening is narrow. It isn't big enough for us to walk side by side. I'm glad Guthrie's going in first. I walk right behind him as close as I can, and I shine my flashlight around. The walls are rock. It's just like a cave. A small cave. I wonder how far back it goes. I shine my flashlight over Guthrie's shoulder but run into him instead. I didn't realize he had stopped walking.

"Sorry."

"That's ok. Look around for an X," he says. He starts shining his flashlight all around.

"What kind of X?" I ask as I shine my flashlight all around the walls.

"I don't know, just an X."

"A big one? What color?"

"I don't know Heidi. Just look for one."

I shine my light on the walls and I don't see an X anywhere. I guess Guthrie doesn't either because he starts walking again. He shines his flashlight all around and I make sure I stay with him as close behind him as I can possibly be. I stop looking for the X and shine my flashlight on Guthrie's back instead. I hear a noise that sounds like a rock being thrown against the wall. Guthrie stops and I run into him again.

"What was that?" I whisper.

"I don't know," he whispers back. We both stand quietly and listen. When we hear the noise again Guthrie whispers, "turn your flashlight off!" He turns his off.

"No! I'm afraid of the dark! I want to get out of here!" We hear the noise again only this time it sounds like it's closer. "I'm scared Guthrie!" I turn around and shine my flashlight towards the mine opening and run towards it.

"Heidi wait!" Guthrie yells. "It's probably just a rock!"

I don't care if it's just a rock. I'm getting out of here! I don't stop running until I'm outside and over by our packs. Guthrie runs over to me.

"It's ok Heidi. It's probably just a rock," he says as he puts his hand on my arm.

"Why would a rock make a noise?" I ask. "The only way a rock would make a noise like that is if somebody threw it!"

I can tell he's thinking about that because he doesn't say anything. He just looks into my eyes. All of a sudden we hear someone talking! "Hide!" Guthrie yells.

"Where?!" I look around and there really isn't a place to hide. Not a good place anyway.

"Behind that bush!"

I follow him to a big bush and we run behind it and crouch down. It's not exactly the best hiding spot because it's not a thick bush, it's kind of dead looking because it's brown and there are hardly any leaves left on it. We hear the talking again and look in the direction it's coming from. It's coming from the path we took to get to the mine, not from inside the mine. That's a relief.

"What about the horses Guthrie?" I whisper.

"I don't know. Just be quiet and stay hidden."

Guthrie sounds scared and that makes me feel scared.

"Guthrie, do you know where we are? Are we on the Johnson's ranch?" I whisper to him.

"I don't know," he says quietly.

"What do you mean, you don't know? Where are we?"

"Sh! I don't know. Be quiet."

We hear voices getting closer. It sounds like two people talking to each other. "I'm scared Guthrie!"

"I know, me too."

"What if it's robbers? What if it's poachers? What if it's..."

Guthrie puts his hand over my mouth and whispers, "just be quiet."

We crouch behind the bush making ourselves as small as we can and wait for whoever it is to come into view.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

><p>The voices get closer and Guthrie and I both breath a sigh of relief as we see two boys walk into the clearing. We know them. It's Guthrie's friend Kenny and a boy in fifth grade named John. Guthrie and I stand up and come out from behind the bush.<p>

"Hi!" Guthrie says.

"I was wondering whose horses those were," John says. "I should've recognized Lucy."

John knows Lucy from rodeos I've entered in. We've helped take care of each others horses during the rodeos. John's nice. He's always been nice to me at rodeos. He kind of reminds me of Evan a little bit with the way he loves horses. He wants to be on the professional rodeo circuit someday, just like me and Evan.

"Did you guys walk here?" I ask.

"Not the whole way," Kenny says. "My dad dropped us off at the road."

Kenny and I don't like each other all the time. My brothers say it's because I'm jealous of him when he's over at our house playing with Guthrie. I don't think I am. I just don't like it when he wants to play with Guthrie and not include me. Besides, he's mean sometimes.

"That's still a long way to walk," Guthrie says.

"Are you guys here looking for the diamonds?" John asks.

"Yep," I say, "we heard a noise in the mine so we came running out. It was scary!"

"No it wasn't," Guthrie says, "it was just a rock."

"You don't know that," I tell him. "It could've been the ghost."

"Do you guys know about the cabin?" John asks.

"What cabin?" Guthrie asks.

"Jeb Smiths' cabin. It's a little ways from here. Come on," John says and he starts walking past the mine and over to a pine tree. "It's this way."

Guthrie and I follow him and Kenny, and once we get closer to the tree I can see there's a trail there. Guthrie stops and says, "wait. What about the horses? How far is the cabin?"

"Not that far," John says. "Probably about ten minutes."

Guthrie shrugs his shoulders. "That should be ok."

If Guthrie's fine with leaving them, so am I. We follow the path to the cabin and I hope it's not haunted too.

* * *

><p>"I think we've been walking for waaaaay more than ten minutes," I tell the boys. I'm not tired or anything, I'm just excited to see the cabin and I was hoping we'd be there by now.<p>

"It's not much farther," John says. "See that big rock over there?" He points in front of him at a tall rock probably as tall as Adam, Crane or Brian on the left side of the path. I nod my head and he says, "it's just past that. That's how Jeb would tell people where his cabin was. He'd tell them to take the path with the tall rock."

"There's rocks all over the place," I say. "How'd people know it was this rock?"

"I don't know, they just did," John says.

I guess he's right. Back in the old days people just said turn right at so and so's ranch and everyone knew where they were talking about. I pass by the big rock and look ahead at something that looks like it could've been a cabin.

"Wow!" Guthrie says. "I didn't know this was back here. None of my brothers ever said anything about a cabin being out here."

The cabin is small. It's probably only one room. It looks like it's falling apart. The window in front is broken. It looks like someone threw a big rock through it. There are two porch steps that lead up to the small porch and front door. One of the steps is missing a board. The front door is open but I can't see inside because it's dark inside. The boys start walking to the steps.

"Wait. What if this place is haunted just like the mine?"

"It's just a house Heidi," Guthrie says.

"But it was Jeb's house," I remind him. "He could be haunting this place too."

"I don't think a ghost can haunt two places at once," John says.

Kenny says, "do you think the mine is haunted, or this place?"

"Well, I heard a noise in the mine, so I guess that's haunted." I walk to the cabin and follow the boys to the door.

Guthrie is the first to go inside. The door creaks the rest of the way open when he pushes on it. "Wow! This place is so cool!"

We all walk inside and look around. It's one very small empty room. Jeb probably had a bed and a table in here and that's it.

"This must've been where the wood stove was," John says as he stands in the corner and looks up to the ceiling. "There's a hole here for the pipe to go through."

It's hard to see in here because there's only one window, but after a few minutes our eyes adjust.

"There are so many cobwebs," I say.

"Look! There's a hole in the wall over here!" Kenny yells.

The three of us run to him and look at where he's pointing. It's a pretty big hole in the wall near the floor. Big enough to put your head through if you wanted too.

"This wall doesn't go through to the outside like all the smaller holes do," Guthrie says.

He's right. The walls of the cabin are just boards and lots of the boards are falling down or missing and you can see right outside. With this hole you can't see outside.

"I bet it's a secret hiding place!" I yell excitedly. "Maybe he hid the diamonds in there!"

"We need a flashlight," Guthrie says.

"We left them with our packs," I remind him.

"I'll feel around inside," Kenny says. "We don't need a flashlight." I watch as he puts his hand inside the hole and feels around. "I don't feel anything," he says and he takes his hand out.

We each take turns feeling around inside the hole, but none of us feels anything.

"Those diamonds have to be around here somewhere!" John says.

"I know. We brought shovels with us," Guthrie says. "Let's go back to the mine so we can get our packs and bring them back here."

That sounds good to me. We leave the cabin and start walking back on the path to the mine. My stomach growls. It must be lunchtime. That means we only have a few more hours before we have to leave. I hope it doesn't take too long to find the diamonds, because we don't want to get home late.

* * *

><p>We spend the rest of our two hours digging for buried treasure around the outside of the cabin and searching inside the cabin with our flashlights. We don't find anything.<p>

"Maybe the treasure is really in the mine," John says.

Guthrie looks at his watch. "It's three-fifteen," he says, "we should head back to the mine Heidi and get the horses and go home."

He sounds really disappointed. I know he really wanted to find those diamonds. I did too.

"You guys should come back tomorrow," Kenny says. "Let's all come back tomorrow!"

We all agree to meet at the mine tomorrow and then we walk back to where the horses are. John and Kenny are going to stay longer and look around in the cave for the diamonds, so we give them our flashlights to borrow. Then we lead our horses over to a rock that's tall enough when we stand on it to be able to mount the horses.

Kenny and John say they'll call us tonight if they find anything. We all say goodbye and plan to meet here tomorrow. Then Guthrie and I lead Lucy and Chance to the path that leads to the road. I'm excited about tomorrow. We'll definitely find the diamonds tomorrow. I just know we will! Then we'll give them to our family and they'll be able to go on lots of dates and eat all the steak they want!

* * *

><p>When Guthrie and I ride up to the barn Evan is inside brushing Diablo. He must've just gotten home from rodeo school.<p>

He stops brushing to watch us get off our horses and then asks, "where have you guys been?"

I look at Guthrie and he looks at me and then we both look at Evan.

"The river," I say.

"The pond," Guthrie says.

We both look at each other again and then Guthrie says the river and I say the pond. Evan laughs.

"Where have you really been?" He asks.

I look at Guthrie. "Both places," he finally says.

I look at Evan closely to see if he believes us. He doesn't because he says, "you expect me to believe you rode your horse to the pond and the river instead of walking Guthrie?"

Guthrie doesn't really like to ride horses but he says, "yeah, I didn't want to, but Heidi did, so I did too."

I can tell Evan still doesn't believe him but he finally says, "ok." He looks at us and smiles while he shakes his head. "Whatever you two are up to, you should get your story straight before someone else asks you where you've been."

"He's right," Guthrie says after Evan leaves to go put the brushes away in the tack room.

"Ok, what's our story?" I ask. I pull myself up on top of some hay bales stacked two high and sit down. I pull a piece of hay out and chew on it while I watch Guthrie think.

"Ok, here's what we'll say. We went to the pond to go swimming...,"

"We're not wet."

"That's the _first_ thing we did today. Let me finish."

"Why'd we ride our horses there?"

Guthrie thinks a minute and says, "because you talked me into it. We..,"

"How long did we swim at the pond for?"

"An hour, I don't know, it doesn't really matter. Then we..,"

"Did we eat our lunch there?"

"Heidi! Stop interrupting!"

"Ok, sorry. I just want to know the details."

"No one's going to ask for the details."

"They might," I tell him. I stop talking though because he looks a little mad.

"Just let me do all the talking," he says.

"No! You always say that! What if you're not there when someone asks me?"

"Ok, just listen." Guthrie starts pacing and looking at the ground while he talks. "We went to the pond and swam for an hour. Then we dried out in the sun for a while and then we rode the horses to the river. We caught a snake there," I start to say something but Guthrie looks at me and says, "a gopher snake," I hold out my arms wide and he says, "this big," and he holds his arms as far apart as he can. "Then we ate lunch. We..,"

"What'd we do with the snake?"

"We let it go. After we ate, we explored the river and then we came home."

"Did we find anything?"

"It doesn't mater, no one's gonna ask if we found anything."

I jump down from the hay bales and we walk out of the barn. "I can't _wait_ for someone to ask me what we did today! I hope I remember all that."

"I hope no one asks what we did today," Guthrie says. "I hope they're all too busy getting ready for their date."

I run ahead to the house because I just remembered Cleo's here and I can't wait to see her.

* * *

><p>Ford and Cleo are in the kitchen so I run in there to say hi.<p>

"Hi Cleo! Hi Ford!"

They both say hi and I ask them what they're doing.

"We're making a sign for our display," Cleo says.

I look at what they're doing. They have two big pieces of paper and Cleo's writing something in big letters on her paper and Ford is drawing the outline of a cow on his. They're both looking at their 4-H books while they're working.

"Why are you drawing a cow?" I ask Ford.

"I have to show where the different cuts of meat come from on it." He draws a few lines on the cow and then writes the word 'loin'.

"Oh no! You're not raising calves for 4-H are you?" I don't like 4-H anymore because I helped Guthrie with his calf project and at the end of the project, when the calf was all grownup, it got auctioned at the fair and someone bought it to chop it all up and eat it. "You can't do that!"

Ford smiles and says, "it's ok Heidi. Cleo's dad said the cow can come live on his ranch when we're done. No one's going to butcher it."

"Really?" I look at Cleo.

"Yes," she says.

That makes me feel happy. "Can I help you?"

"Sure, you can color in the bubble letters on my sign," Cleo says so I stand next to her and pick up a black marker. I start coloring and Guthrie comes in. He says hi to Cleo and then walks over to the cupboard to get a glass.

"What did you guys do today?" Ford asks Guthrie.

"Let me tell! Let me tell!" I yell. Ford and Cleo laugh and I start telling the story. I put the marker down and hold up one finger. "First we rode our horses to the pond." I hold up a second finger. "We swam there for an hour." I hold up a third finger. "Then we ate our lunches. No wait, we dried out in the sun first, _then_ we ate our lunches." I look up at the ceiling. "No wait, I think the next part was riding to the river. _Then_ we ate our lunch there." I look back at my fingers and hold up another one. "We caught a snake this big," I hold my arms out wide. "A gopher, I mean a garter snake. Wait, Guthrie did we catch the snake before we ate lunch or after?" I look at Guthrie and he's glaring at me. "What?" I ask. When he doesn't answer I look at Ford and say, "I'm trying to remember what we said, but we did so many things it's hard to remember what order we did them in."

Ford and Cleo laugh.

"What?" I ask.

"Are you making all that up?" Ford asks.

"No. Why?"

"No reason," Ford says. "It just sounds like a lot of details. All you have to do is say you went to the pond and the river."

"See?" Guthrie says to me. "I told you. You don't need to know the details."

"But I want to tell the _whole_ story. We explored the river after we ate lunch. There. I think that's everything."

"Now what did you _really_ do today?" Ford asks.

I stare at him. How'd he know I was lying? I look at Guthrie and he shakes his head.

"That's what we really did," I tell Ford quietly.

Ford looks at Guthrie. "Really?" He asks.

"Really," Guthrie says, but he's not looking at Ford, he's looking at me when he says it.

Hannah walks in and says hi to us. I watch her walk to the counter and write something down on a piece of paper. She looks beautiful. Hannah always reminds me of Snow White. Her dark hair is feathered perfectly tonight and she's wearing a pretty shade of red lipstick that matches the red paint on her fingernails. She's wearing a pretty white dress with her cowgirl boots and...

"What?" She asks me.

I didn't realize she was staring at me. "What?" I ask.

"You're staring at me," she says. "Is something wrong?"

I shake my head and look down quickly at the paper I'm supposed to be coloring on.

"What did you and Guthrie do today Heidi?" She asks me.

I look up at her and then over at Guthrie. He raises his eyebrows at me so I sigh and look back at Hannah and quietly say, "we went to the pond and the river."

"That must've been fun," she says. "You guys haven't been exploring in a while. Did you find anything?"

"A snake," I tell her. "This big." I hold my arms out wide and then drop them to my sides.

"What's wrong?" She asks. "You seem kind of sad."

"I'm not," I say and I pick up the black marker and start coloring again.

"Good," Hannah says. "Now Ford, here's the number of the restaurant we'll be at and the dance hall we'll be at later." She shows him the small piece of paper she was writing on and says, "I'll put this by the phone. There's a salad in the refrigerator and I thought you could make some spaghetti."

"What's for dessert?" I ask.

"Ice cream."

I like two out of three of those things. Ford won't make us eat the salad though. I wonder if Cleo will. I go back to coloring but stop when Adam, Brian and Crane walk in.

They all look nice. They've got clean clothes on and their hair is combed, but they put too much cologne on because I can smell it from way across the room. So can Guthrie.

"What'd you guys do, pour the whole bottle of cologne on you?" He asks and we both laugh.

"Don't you worry little brother," Brian says, "pretty soon you'll be putting on cologne for a lady."

"No way!" Guthrie says. "Not me!"

Brian smiles and says, "that's what Ford used to say, isn't that right Ford?"

I look at Ford and his cheeks are turning pink and then red. "Knock it off Brian," he says while he looks down at his cow drawing. I look at Cleo and her cheeks are turning pink too. She's also looking down at her paper.

"Brian stop it," Hannah says. "You're embarrassing them." She hits Brian's arm playfully and then she walks over to Adam. They kiss and Adam says, "you look beautiful tonight, Mrs. McFadden."

"Why thank you, Mr. McFadden," she says, and they kiss again. I can't stop staring at them. They look so happy staring into each others eyes like they're in love.

"Knock it off, _lovebirds_," Crane says. "We'd better get going if we want to be at the restaurant by six."

"How are you all gonna fit in one car?" Guthrie asks.

"We're meeting the girls at the restaurant," Adam says.

"And if all goes well, I'll be taking Laura home," Brian says and he smiles and winks.

Hannah says, "Brian, I hope you treat Laura with respect."

"I always treat the women I date with respect," Brian says. He sounds kind of mad. I think Adam knows that because he says, "alright you two, let's go. Hannah, stay out of Brian's love life. He knows what he's doing."

"Sorry Brian," Hannah says. "It's just, when you make jokes about taking girls home, it bothers me."

I look at Hannah. I wonder why it bothers her.

Crane says, "come on. You can talk about it on the way to Angles Camp."

The four of them start to walk out of the kitchen but then Adam and Hannah stop and turn around to look at the four of us.

"Be good," Hannah says. "Don't eat too much junk food."

Adam says, "be good and mind your brother."

I nod my head and Guthrie says, "we will."

"Come on you two!" Crane yells from the living room.

"Coming!" Hannah yells. "Goodnight," she says to us and then her and Adam hurry into the living room.

* * *

><p>So far the evening has been fun. Guthrie and I helped Cleo and Ford with their 4-H project and then Ford said he would make the spaghetti.<p>

"I'll help," Cleo says. "I can make a meat sauce if you have some ground beef and onions. I'm also good at making garlic bread."

"Ok," Ford says. The way the two of them are looking at each other is the same way Adam and Hannah were looking at each other. Except Cleo and Ford aren't kissing. Guthrie walks over to me and pulls me into the living room.

"What?" I ask.

"We should probably give Cleo and Ford some privacy."

"So they can kiss?" I ask.

"Yeah, if they want to."

"But I want to help make dinner. Why can't they kiss later?"

Guthrie shrugs his shoulders. Evan and Daniel come out of their room upstairs and walk downstairs. They look like they're ready to go out. Daniel's band is playing at the dance tonight and Evan's going with him.

"Bye guys," Evan says. "Is Ford in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, we're out here to give him and Cleo some privacy," Guthrie says.

"Good idea," Daniel says while he walks by us and into the kitchen.

"I don't think it's a good idea," I say as I follow him in. "I want to help them make dinner."

Guthrie and Evan follow too so we're all in the kitchen.

"Bye guys," Daniel says.

Cleo and Ford say goodbye, but as Daniel and Evan leave the kitchen Ford says, "I'll be right back Cleo." He runs after Evan and Daniel and Guthrie follows him. I wonder what he wants to talk to them about. I walk up to Cleo and ask her if I can help.

"Sure. Break up the ground beef like this," I watch her poke at the meat like Hannah and my brothers do, "while I chop up the onions."

"Ok." I carry our small kitchen stool over to the stove and stand on top of it so I can reach the pan easier.

I break apart the meat while I talk to Cleo about the calf her and Ford are raising for their 4-H project. It was sick when it was born because the mom was sick. My brothers had to put her down. The calf wouldn't take milk from any of the other cows so Ford started to feed it with a bottle. Cleo wanted to help so they decided to work together.

"Are you sure your dad will let Suzy stay on your ranch?" That's the name Cleo gave her.

"Yes. He knows I love to help sick animals and lets me keep all the animals I rescue."

"What if you rescued a wolf cub? Would he let you keep that? My brothers wouldn't."

"No, he probably wouldn't let me keep that. But I know a place that would take a hurt wolf cub." Cleo tells me all about a rescue shelter for wild animals and she tells me all about the animals she's rescued.

"You should be a veterinarian when you grow up," I tell her.

She smiles at me and says, "that's exactly what I want to be!"

She adds the onions to the pan and I give her a spoon to stir them into the meat.

"Hannah usually makes her sauce all day. She uses real tomatoes."

"I usually do too, but if I don't have time for that I put in a few cans of diced tomatoes and tomato paste," Cleo says.

Ford rushes back in and says, "I'm sorry I was gone for so long. What can I help you with?"

Cleo tells him she needs a few cans of tomatoes and he gets those out for her. Guthrie calls me out to the living room so I go.

"What?" I ask him. "And don't tell me I have to stay out here so they can kiss each other. They're making diner, not making out."

Guthrie smiles and says, "I know, but what if we set the table for just the two of them and lit some candles. We could eat out here. It would be like a date for them."

"Yeah! Let's do that!" That sounds like fun.

Ford and Cleo come into the living room and Cleo says, "the sauce needs to cook for a while."

"Let's turn on the radio," I suggest. It's always fun to turn the radio on as loud as it can go and dance around the house when it's just my younger brothers watching us.

Ford turns the radio on and finds a good station with a new country song playing that we all love. The four of us start dancing and it's a lot of fun. Ford and Cleo are good dancers. We all sing to the music and dance around the living room for a couple of songs and then a new song plays that I don't know.

"I love this song!" Cleo says. "Look, there's even a new dance that everyone's doing with it."

I watch her dance and it looks like fun. It looks like Ford knows the dance too. "Come on," Ford says to me and Guthrie, "we'll teach you."

Cleo takes my hand and Ford takes Guthrie's and they show us how to do the new dance. It's a lot of fun. It doesn't take long for me and Guthrie to learn it. When the song is over and the next song plays I dance the new dance with it. We dance and dance until we get tired and flop down on the couch laughing and breathing hard at the same time.

"I'd better check on the sauce," Cleo says and she gets up and we all follow her into the kitchen. She lifts the lid on the pot and stirs the sauce. I watch her taste it and she says, "it's almost ready. Let's start the noodles and butter the bread."

We help her fix dinner and after about fifteen minutes, it's finally ready. Guthrie and I set the table for the two of them and find two candles to set in the middle of the table and Guthrie lights them.

"What are you doing?" Ford asks.

"It's a date for you," I tell him. "See. You two can eat in here and me and Guthrie will eat out there." I point to the living room. I walk up to Cleo and take her hand and lead her to the table. "You sit here." Guthrie leads Ford to the seat next to her.

"You sit here," he says. Then Guthrie and I put spaghetti, salad and bread on two plates and carry them over to the table.

"What would you like to drink?" I ask. "We have water, milk, or orange juice." Ford makes a yucky face when I say orange juice, so I say, "or there's soda, or," I pause, "or beer." I look at Ford because sometimes him, Evan and Daniel will drink a beer or two when they babysit us.

"No beer," he says. He looks at Cleo and says, "unless you want one."

"No thank you. I don't like beer a whole lot. I mean, I've tried it at a party, but this doesn't seem like a good time to drink it." She looks at Ford. "Unless you think it is?"

"No. We'll have water," Ford says while he looks at Cleo. They're both smiling and their cheeks are pink. "Unless you'd...,"

"Oh my gosh!" I say. "I'll just get you some water. Cleo, would you like some water?" She nods her head and Ford does too when I ask him. Guthrie and I get them each a glass of water and then we dish ourselves some spaghetti.

"We'll be out here," Guthrie says while we walk to the living room. "Let us know if you need anything."

I hear Cleo giggling as we walk out of the kitchen.

* * *

><p>"Do you think they're kissing <em>now<em>?" I ask Guthrie.

"I don't know. They've been quiet for a few minutes. Maybe."

"Let's check," I say and I crawl to the kitchen to peek in. Guthrie and I have even sitting on the floor eating our spaghetti at the coffee table. Ford and Cleo are eating quietly, not kissing. I'm crawl back. "Not yet," I tell Guthrie.

"I'm thirsty," he says.

"Me too."

"I guess we could go in and get some more soda. If they haven't kissed yet, I don't think they're going to," Guthrie says.

He's right. We take our plates into the kitchen and Ford and Cleo look at us. I don't know why they haven't kissed yet. I've seen them kiss before. I mean, they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Isn't that what they're supposed to do?

"We're thirsty," Guthrie says.

"We're done eating," Cleo says. "I'll do the dishes."

Ford stands up. "No, I'll do the dishes."

I stare at him. He's _volunteering_ to do the dishes? Why?

"I'll help you Ford," Cleo says and she gets up too.

"Then what do you guys want to do?" I ask.

"'Heidi', I think they might want some _privacy_," Guthrie says.

"I don't think so," I tell him. "If they haven't kissed by now..," Guthrie nudges me in the side pretty hard. "Ow! What was that for?"

"We could play a game," Ford says quickly. "Do you want to play a game when we're done washing the dishes?"

"Yes!" I yell.

"I was asking Cleo," Ford says.

"Sure, I'd like to play a game," she says.

"We have Monopoly," I tell her.

"That's a fun game when you have lots of time to play. My dad isn't picking me up until eleven o'clock, so we'd have time."

"Yeah!" I yell excitedly. "If we all help with the dishes we can play sooner!" I run to the sink and turn on the water to start filling it up. I love Cleo being here to help Ford babysit. This is the best night ever! Guthrie seems excited too because he runs over here to help. Who would ever imagine us volunteering to wash dishes? Not me, that's for sure.

* * *

><p>We've been playing Monopoly for at least an hour now. I love playing Monopoly. It's fun to make deals and trades. Cleo already traded her two light blue properties for two of my railroads. Ford and Guthrie both groaned when I made that trade, but I don't care. I don't like the railroads, nobody ever lands on them anyway. Now I just need the other blue property. I'm also getting close to having another monopoly, I just need Boardwalk.<p>

"Can we take a break," Guthrie says, "and get some ice cream?"

"Can we?!" I ask.

"Sure," Ford says. "Let's make banana splits."

"Yum!" I love banana splits.

The four of us work on getting all the stuff out when we hear a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it!" I yell and I run into the living room. When I open the front door I hear laughing and two teenage boys are standing on the porch. One is carrying a six pack of beer, and the other is carrying a six pack of beer, but only three are left. He's holding an open beer can in his hand and he takes a sip from it.

"Is Ford home?" The other boy asks.

"Why?" I ask. I glare at both of them and they laugh.

"She looks so mad!" The one drinking the beer says.

"Ford's busy," I tell them. "Cleo's here and we're playing Monopoly."

"Cleo's here?" One of them asks.

"Yes! So go home! We don't want any boys drinking beer around here!" I point to the one drinking the beer. "You're drunk! So go away!" I'm not really sure if he's drunk or not, but if he isn't, I'm sure he's gonna be soon.

The boys both laugh again really hard and then the drunk one starts yelling Ford's name. I hear Ford calling mine.

"Heidi? Who's at the door?"

I slam the door shut and turn around to look at him. "No one!" The boys start knocking on the door and yelling Ford's name.

"Who is it?" He asks as he gets closer.

I block the door and yell, "don't open it! Don't open it!"

Ford moves me out of the way and opens the door.

"Finally! Hi Ford," the drunk one says and he almost falls over and then starts laughing.

Ford looks back inside the house at the kitchen and then back at the boys. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We heard you were gonna be home alone, so we thought we'd come over for a little party."

"I'm babysitting," Ford tells them. "I'm watching my little brother and sister."

I put my hands on my hips. "See!" I tell them. "Go away!"

"I hear you've got someone else here too," the drunk boy says and he laughs and teases Ford by saying, "Cleo's here. Are you guys having a make out session?" Both boys laugh now and Ford looks embarrassed.

"Yes, she's here," he says quietly. "Will you guys please leave?"

"Are you getting to home plate?" One boy says.

I look up at Ford and his face is red. I wonder what the boy means.

The boy laughs and says, "look how red his face is! You've been to home plate before haven't you?"

The other boy laughs and says, "I bet he hasn't even been to third base yet!"

What are they talking about? I keep looking at Ford and he looks really embarrassed. I feel sorry for him, except I don't know what they're talking about. The boys keep teasing him.

"Have you Ford? Have you been to third base?"

"What's third base Ford?" I ask.

The boys laugh and Ford pushes me a little so I'm inside. "Nothing Heidi. Go help with the banana splits." He closes the door halfway and I stay to listen.

"Have you Ford? You're not chicken are you?"

"No!" Ford says. "I'm not chicken!"

I sigh. That's good. Now he can tell those boys to go home.

"So are you going to third base tonight, or all the way home?" One boy asks. Ford doesn't answer so he asks again.

"Fine! Yes," Ford says.

"Third? Or home?"

"Third, ok?! I've been to third with Cleo a lot and I'm going to third again with her tonight!"

I stick my head through the door opening. "What's third base?" I ask and the boys start laughing. Ford pushes me inside and says, "go into the kitchen Heidi!" Then he closes the door all the way and I hear him say, "you guys are drunk. Why don't you..,"

"Who's at the door?" Cleo asks me.

I move away from the door and say, "two teenagers. They're drunk and Ford's telling them to go home."

"Oh," Cleo says. "Do you want whipped cream on your banana split?" She asks.

"Yes please." I start to follow her into the kitchen and ask, "Cleo? Do you know what third base is?"

She stops walking and turns around to look at me. "What do you mean?"

"The boys asked Ford if he had been to third base or home with you. Do you know what that means?"

I can tell she does and from the look on her face, I don't think it's something good.

"Do you know?"

"Yes," she says quietly.

"Is it good, or bad? Ford told them he goes to third base a lot with you and he's going there with you tonight."

She looks like she's going to cry. "He said that?" She asks softly.

I nod my head. "Are you guys going somewhere? Are you going to leave me and Guthrie alone? Where's third base?"

She doesn't answer me, she just looks sad.

"Cleo? Are you ok?"

"I need to call my dad so he can come pick me up," she says and she walks over to the big desk where the phone is.

"Why? Cleo?" She's not answering me. "Why? We're playing Monopoly and having ice cream. Aren't you having fun? Cleo?"

"I need to go home. I don't feel well," she says and I think she's crying.

Guthrie walks out of the kitchen and looks at Cleo. "What's wrong?" He asks. He's looking at Cleo, but she doesn't answer. She's dialing her number. Guthrie looks at me. "What's wrong with Cleo? Where's Ford?"

"He's outside, and Cleo says she doesn't feel good. She's going home!" I start to cry.

"What's wrong?" Guthrie asks and he puts his hand on my shoulder.

The front door opens and Ford walks in. "What's wrong?" He asks and he walks to me and hugs me.

"Cleo's going home!" I tell him and I cry while he hugs me.

"Why? Cleo? What's wrong Cleo?" He stops hugging me and I look at Cleo. Her eyes are wet from crying and she walks to the front door and picks up her purse that's sitting on the floor.

"I'm going home Ford," she says.

"Why? What's wrong?" He rushes over to her and he puts his hand on her arm.

She jerks her arm away from him and opens the front door. "My dad is coming to get me. I'll wait outside on the porch."

"I'll wait with you," Ford says and he starts to follow her out.

"No," she says. "You stay here. I want to wait alone." She closes the front door behind her and Ford turns around and looks at me and Guthrie. He looks sad.

"What happened?" He asks. "What's wrong with Cleo?"


	3. Chapter 3

"What's wrong with Cleo?" Ford asks again.

"I don't know," Guthrie says. "She said she doesn't feel well."

"Why was she crying?"

"I don't know," Guthrie says.

"I'm going to go outside and talk to her," Ford says. He walks to the front door and opens it. "Cleo?" He walks outside and closes the door behind him.

"Do you know what happened?" Guthrie asks me.

"I'm not sure. She asked me if I wanted whipped cream and I said yes."

"That's it?"

"No. I asked her what third base is."

"What are you talking about?" Guthrie asks.

"I don't know!" I cry. "I asked her what third base is and she got sad! I don't know why!"

Guthrie hugs me. "It's ok Heidi. Maybe she got sick. Maybe she has food poisoning."

I stop hugging him and wipe my eyes. "Really?"

"Sure. I bet Ford is talking to her right now and making her feel better. Come on, let's go look out the window."

We both walk over to the window that looks out onto the front porch. We move the drapes away and look out.

"I can't see anything. The porch light is dim. It's too dark Guthrie."

"I know. Let me turn off the lights in here." He goes around the living room and turns the lamps off and then he comes back to the window.

"That's better, but it's still hard to see," I tell him.

"Our eyes have to adjust."

We look out and I think I can see Cleo sitting on the top porch step. Where's Ford? I look around, but I don't see him. "Cleo's on the steps."

"I know. Where's Ford?"

Finally I see Ford walk over to Cleo and sit next to her, but she stands up and walks down the steps. Ford hangs his head down low and rubs his forehead with his hand.

"I feel so bad for Ford," I tell Guthrie. My eyes start to water as I watch him stand up and walk down one step and stop. I wonder if he's talking to Cleo, or if she's talking to him. He turns to face the front door like he's going to come back inside, but then he turns back around to face Cleo.

We watch him for a while and I feel so sorry for him. He doesn't know what to do. Finally he sits down on the top step and stays there until headlights from a car drive up to our house. The car stops in front of our house and I run to the front door and open it wide.

"Bye Cleo!" I yell.

I watch her run to the car and get inside and then drive away. Ford is still standing on the steps watching her go. When the car is gone, he turns around and walks to the door. His eyes are red and wet. He's been crying.

"Are you ok Ford?" Guthrie asks.

"No," he says and I start crying. "She won't talk to me." Ford closes the front door and walks over to the big comfy chair and sits down.

"I'm sorry Ford," I tell him. I walk over to him and sit on the arm of the chair so I can put my arm around his shoulder.

"It's not your fault Heidi," he says. "I just don't understand. She wouldn't even talk to me."

"She didn't say anything?" Guthrie asks.

"No. The only thing she said was she wanted to be alone."

"Maybe she didn't want you to see her throw up," Guthrie says.

"I don't think that's it. It seems like she's mad at me about something. She didn't say _anything_ to you guys?" Ford asks.

"No," we both say and then I add, "she just got sad all of a sudden and said she wanted to call her dad so he could come pick her up. She said she didn't feel well."

Ford sighs. "I wish I knew what was wrong."

"I'm sorry," Guthrie says.

"Me too," I tell Ford.

"Me too," Ford says. "Maybe she'll talk to me tomorrow."

"What about right now," I suggest.

Ford looks at the clock. "It's after nine o'clock Heidi. It's too late."

"Not if it's important," I tell him.

"It's too late," Ford says again. "I don't want her dad to be mad at me too."

"What if I called her?" I ask. "I don't care if her dad's mad at me."

"No Heidi. Don't call her," Ford says. He looks into my eyes and says, "promise me you won't call her."

"I promise," I tell him and I won't. "Do you want me to call Hannah?" I ask. "Or Adam, or Brian, or Crane?"

"No Heidi. You don't need to call anyone."

"Do you want us to get you anything?" Guthrie asks. "Is there something we can do to make you feel better?"

"No. The only thing that could help me feel better is to know Cleo's not mad at me."

I look at Guthrie and he shrugs his shoulders. I wish I knew what to do. I don't understand what happened. We are all so happy and then those dumb boys had to come and ruin everything! Ford stands up.

"Where are you going?" Guthrie asks him.

"Upstairs," he says. "I need to be alone for a little while. I'll be down in a minute."

I watch him walk over to the stairs. He looks so sad. "Guthrie, do you think we should call Hannah? Ford is really sad."

"No, we don't want to ruin their date. Ford wouldn't want to ruin it either."

"I could pretend to be sick," I suggest.

"No. Hannah would know right away that you were faking."

He's right, she would. I just feel so bad for Ford and I bet Hannah would know what to do. "I'm gonna call her at the dance," I tell Guthrie. I walk over to the desk and Guthrie tells me to stop.

"Ford doesn't want you to call them," he says.

"Ford said not to call Cleo. He didn't say anything about not calling Hannah."

Guthrie sighs and says, "Ford's not gonna like it. I don't think anyone's gonna like."

"But how do we make him feel better?"

"I don't know."

"Guthrie, I feel really sad for Ford."

"I know, I do to, but there's nothing we can do about it. Cleo's the only one that can make him feel better." We're quiet for a minute and then Guthrie says, "let's go see if Ford's alright."

We get up and go upstairs to the boys' room and knock on the door.

* * *

><p>We've been in the boys' room for a while now. Guthrie's laying on a top bunk throwing a baseball up in the air and catching it over and over. I'm on the other top bunk with Ford. We're both leaning against the wall. Ford is staring up at the ceiling which is better than what he was doing when we first came in, staring at Cleo's picture.<p>

Last Christmas Cleo gave Ford a small picture of herself in a silver frame. Ford keeps it on his dresser. He's holding it in his hand now.

"Ford, I'm bored," I tell him. "Can we watch tv?"

"I guess so," he says. "I don't know what's on. It's after ten o'clock."

Guthrie sits up and says, "I can set it up."

"I'll help him."

Guthrie and I jump down and I look up at Ford. "Aren't you coming?"

"No, I think I'll stay up here for a little while."

Guthrie and I walk out into the hall. "Maybe Knight Rider is on!" I yell excitedly and start running to the stairs.

"Or the Incredible Hulk!" Guthrie says.

It doesn't take long for us to get downstairs and run over to where we keep the tv. We don't keep our TV set up like some of my friends do. We don't watch tv a lot because we don't get good reception out here on the ranch.

Guthrie pulls the tv out of the corner of the living room and I push the coffee table back against one of the couches. Guthrie sets the tv on top of the table and then runs to plug the extension cord into the outlet. I sit on the other couch that faces the tv and tell Guthrie when the antenna is working the best. We have to turn through the channels and move the antenna around for each one until we finally find a show that comes in clear enough to watch.

It's not a show either of us recognize and that's probably because we don't watch a lot of TV and never this late at night.

The tv show is dark. It's showing the outside of a spooky looking house and it's raining outside. Some lightening flashes and then we hear thunder. I start to feel scared and I pull the blanket laying next to me up to my chin and stare at the tv. The music sounds scary and now we see the inside of the house. There's a man and a lady inside arguing. They're yelling at each other and then there's a loud knock at the door.

"Don't open it!" The lady yells. The man ignores her and starts walking to the door. "Stop!" She yells. "You don't know if it's _him_!" I wonder who she's talking about. "Please Brock! Don't open the door!"

I start whispering, "don't open the door, don't open the door," while I watch the man walk slowly down the longest hallway I've ever seen. The lady pulls on him, but he keeps walking towards the door. "Don't open it," I say out loud. "Don't open it!"

Guthrie jumps up and leaps to the tv to change the channel, but he's not quick enough. The man opens the door and there's an ugly looking man holding his arms up in front of him moaning. I scream and cover my face with the blanket. I hear Guthrie turn the channel so I move the blanket away from my face.

"Why'd he open the door, Guthrie?! Why?!"

"It's ok Heidi. See? I changed the channel."

Ford comes running down the stairs. "What's wrong? What happened?"

I cry and say, "he opened the door Ford! He opened the door!"

"What are you talking about?" Ford looks at the tv and then at Guthrie. "What happened?"

"We were watching something scary. The man opened the door and there was a zombie outside."

"Oh," Ford says and he sits down next to me. "Let's see if we can find something better on."

Guthrie changes the channel to a show with a man riding a horse.

"It looks like a western," Guthrie says.

"You like those Heidi," Ford reminds me.

He's right, I do. Guthrie moves the antenna around until the show comes in clearer and then he sits down next to me. I snuggle up next to Ford and he covers me with the blanket. The show has horses and a train and I'm not sure what's going on because I'm tired. I close my eyes for a little bit and before I know it, I'm asleep.

* * *

><p>I open my eyes when I hear a door close. I'm laying on the couch with my head on Ford's lap. The tv's still on and Adam, Hannah, Brian and Crane are standing near the front door taking their jackets off.<p>

"How come you're still up?" Hannah asks. "It's after one o'clock."

"Sorry," Ford says. "I guess I just lost track of the time. We've been watching old western movies. Well, Guthrie and I have. Heidi's been asleep since eleven."

Hannah holds her hand out to me and says, "come on, let's get you in bed. Have you brushed your teeth yet?"

I'm too tired to talk so I just stare at her. She smiles at me and I lay my head back down on Ford's lap.

"Hey, what happened in here?" Crane asks from the kitchen. "Ford?"

Brian, Adam and Hannah walk into the kitchen and Ford stands up making my head flop down on the couch.

"Sorry," he says as he rushes to the kitchen. "I forgot."

"What a mess," Hannah says.

Guthrie gets up and I stretch and then get up and follow him into the kitchen.

Oh my gosh! We forgot about the ice cream! None of us ever went back into the kitchen to put the ice cream away! I scratch my head and watch Crane lift the soggy ice cream container off the counter. It's dripping ice cream all over the counter and the floor.

Ford sounds upset when he says, "I'm sorry. I forgot all about the banana splits!" He sighs and sits down in a chair at the kitchen table. His head hangs down and Adam walks over to him and pats him on the back once.

"What's wrong Ford?"

Ford shakes his head and doesn't say anything.

"Ford?" Adam says.

I speak up and says, "he's sad." Everyone looks at me so I say, "Cleo's mad at him."

Hannah sits down at the table next to Ford and puts her hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

Ford starts to cry a tiny bit. "I don't know. She won't talk to me. She called her dad to come pick her up early."

"She didn't say why?" Hannah asks.

Ford seems mad now and frustrated because he yells, "no! She wouldn't even talk to me! She didn't even say goodbye!"

"That's a girl for you," Brian says.

"Brian," Adam says, "that's not helping." Adam puts his hand on Fords shoulders and rubs them. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Tell us what happened," Hannah says.

"There's nothing to tell!" Ford yells and he brings his fist down on the table hard. "I don't know what happened!"

"It's true," Guthrie says.

Adam and Hannah look at me and Guthrie and Adam says, "you two go up to bed. We'll be up in a little bit."

Guthrie leaves, but I don't. I want to know what they're gonna talk about.

"I'm not tired."

Brian picks me up and carries me out of the kitchen. "Brian, I'm not tired," I tell him.

"That's ok," he says as he carries me upstairs. He stops outside the bathroom and puts me down. "Brush your teeth," he says.

I groan and say, "I'm too tired to."

"Brush," he says.

I get my toothbrush and squeeze some toothpaste on it. I hold my toothbrush and look up at Brian. "How was your date?"

"Brush."

He seems like he's in a bad mood. "How come you're home? Didn't Laura want you to take her home?"

He glares at me while he takes my toothbrush out of my hand and sticks it in my mouth. "Brush."

I brush my teeth and follow him to my bedroom when I'm done. I climb in bed and Brian covers me up.

"Will you stay with me?" I ask. "I saw a zombie on TV and I'm scared."

Brian stares at me and I can tell he's thinking. "Scoot," he says so I scoot over and make room for him to sit next to me.

"Lay here," I tell him and I try to pull his leg up on my bed.

He moves so his back is leaning against the headboard and his legs are stretched all the way out on top of my bed. I snuggle next to him and he puts his arm around me.

"How was your date?" I ask.

"Fine."

"That's it?" I sit up and look at him. "Just _fine_?"

"It was a date."

"I know, but it was with Laura. Wasn't it special?"

"It was ok."

"Why? Doesn't she like you?"

"I don't know. Lay down."

I don't lay down, instead I ask, "are you going out with her again? You could ask her to go out tomorrow. Just you and her. Then you could take her home."

"She already has a date tomorrow," Brian says.

"Oh." That's not good. "Who's she going out with?"

"I don't know. Some guy she knows from high school. I think he's an old boyfriend."

"Maybe she could cancel her date and go out with you instead. Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yes, I had a lot of fun with Laura. She's a really fun person to be around."

I think so too. "Did _she_ have fun tonight?"

"She said she did."

"Then why is she gonna go out with someone else?"

Brian sighs and looks at me. "I don't know. Lay down." He moves me so I'm laying down. "I don't understand girls."

"I'm a girl."

"I know. I don't understand _you_ all the time either." He puts his hand on top of my head and smoothes my hair back.

"Brian? What do you mean when you say you have to treat a women like a horse?" I sit up again and stare at him.

Brian sighs and says, "I don't know what I mean when I say that anymore. I thought I knew, but I guess I don't."

"Why?"

He moves me so I'm laying down again. "I told you, I don't understand girls."

"Why not? You always have _lots_ of girlfriends," I remind him as I look up into his eyes.

"No, I don't. They're not real girlfriends. Not the kind I want anymore."

"What kind do you want?" I look up at him and he's staring at my wall.

"I want the kind of girl that laughs a lot and knows how to have fun. A girl who's not afraid to get dirty. A girl who knows her way around a ranch."

"That sounds like Laura," I tell him and he looks down at me.

"I know," he says. "She's the kind of girl who listens to me when I talk, she wants to hear about what happened on the ranch, she wants to know how _you're_ doing, or Hannah, or what new animal was born on the ranch. She's not like the girls I've dated who don't want to hear about that kind of stuff. Those girls don't care about my family, or what I do on the ranch. They just smile their pretty smiles and tell me my muscles are big, or some other corny remark about what I look like."

I laugh when he says that. I've seen those kind of girls around him before. Whenever he takes one of _those_ girls out, he always says, "don't wait up," and winks to my brothers. I know what that means. At least, I think I do. "Would you treat _those_ girls like a horse?"

Brian sighs again. "I don't know Heidi. I don't really care about those girls."

"Then why do you go out with them?"

"I don't know." He puts his arm around me and scoots me close to him. "Heidi, don't ever let a boy treat you like a horse."

"What do you mean? Do you mean like tie me up?"

He squeezes me and laughs a tiny bit. "No." Then he sighs. "Let's see if I can explain this." He's quiet for a little bit while he thinks and then he says, "don't let a boy tell you what to do, or stop you from doing something you want to do."

"Why do _you_ want to treat a girl like that. You always sing the horse song."

He groans and says, "I don't know why I keep singing that stupid song. I guess I do it to get a laugh."

"Hannah doesn't think it's funny."

"I know."

"I bet Laura wouldn't think it was funny either."

He kisses the top of my head and says, "I think you're right."

"Are you going to call Laura tomorrow?"

"No."

"Why not? I bet she'd like it. You can call her and tell her you had fun tonight."

"No," he says. "I don't want to bug her before she goes out on her other date."

"Maybe if you call her she'll forget all about the other date. Maybe she's already cancelled the date because she had so much fun with you."

"I doubt it."

I wiggle away from him and sit up on my knees. "Tell me all about the date. Were you nice to her? Did you bring her flowers? Did you open the door for her? I see Crane do that with Isabella. He's always opening the door for her. Did you let her order whatever she wanted to, or did you tell her what to order?"

He smiles at me and says, "jeez, calm down. No, I didn't _tell_ her what to order. She ordered...,"

"If she ordered the steak, did you tell her she couldn't?"

"She ordered the burger..,"

"But what if she didn't order the burger? What if she ordered the steak?"

"Then I would've ordered the salad and a water for myself," he says and I laugh.

"Did you dance with her?"

"Yes."

"Did you sloooooooow dance with her?"

"Yes."

"Did you kiss her?"

He pokes my stomach and says, "none of your business."

Now I think of the best question in the world. "Did you go to the bases with her?"

"What?" He looks at me funny.

"You know, the bases."

"No, I don't know. What are you talking about?"

"I'm not really sure. It's something I heard Ford talking about with his friends. I think it's a place you take girls. I think it's like a baseball field. There's a third base and a home plate and I guess the other bases are there too. You take your girl to the base."

Brian is looking at me like I'm crazy. "What? I don't think I've ever heard of a place like that."

"Ford's friends asked if he's been to third base with Cleo and Ford said yes. He says he goes there all the time with her." Brian's face changes from smiling to looking a little mad. "What?" I ask him. "Is that a bad place to go?"

"Ford said that? Ford said he goes to third base with Cleo?" I can tell he knows what I'm talking about now, and I don't think taking Cleo to third base is a good thing.

"Yes. All the time. What's wrong Brian? Are you mad?" He doesn't answer me. "Brian?"

"What? Wait, how do you know this?"

Hmmm. I'm not sure if I should tell him I was listening to Ford talk to his friends. My brothers don't like it when I do that. "Ford told me."

"Ford _told_ you that?"

"Yeeeeeeees?" I look up at him and hope he believes me.

"Heidi, are you telling me the truth?" I nod my head and he says, "that's not something Ford would have told you."

"Why not? Where is it?"

"Heidi, where did you hear about the bases? _How_ did you hear about the bases?" He's talking in his serious voice especially when he says, "don't lie to me."

I sigh. "Ok, I overheard Ford telling his friends about them."

"What friends? When?" I think he's mad at me. I'm not sure. I don't even know what I'm talking about. This is too confusing.

I lay back down and say, "I don't know. I'm tired now, Brian. Can I go to sleep?"

"No, you're gonna sit up and tell me what you're talking about." He puts his hands under my armpits and sits me up. "Start talking. Did Ford have friends over tonight?"

"No."

"Then what are you talking about? When did you hear Ford talk about the bases?"

"Tonight."

Brian shakes his head and says, "you just said Ford didn't have any friends over tonight."

"He didn't."

"Then who was he talking to?"

"His friends."

"You're not making any sense," Brian says. "Why are you talking around in circles?"

"What?" I don't know what he means by that. Brian seems really frustrated.

"Never mind," he says. "Did Cleo hear Ford tell his friends he goes to third base with her?"

"No."

Brian sighs and says, "well that's good."

"She didn't have to hear him because I told her he said that."

Brian groans. "You didn't."

I nod my head. "Yes I did. That's when she felt sick and called her dad to come get her."

"That explains a lot."

"What? What does it explain? Brian where are the bases? Why did they make Cleo sick?"

"How come you're still up?"

Brian and I look at the doorway and Adam and Hannah are standing there. Brian says, "I think I know what happened with Cleo."

"What?" Ford asks and he squeezes by Adam and Hannah to come inside my room.

Brian tells them what happened as best as he can and Ford helps explain the rest.

"I just wanted them to go away!" He says. "They're not even my friends. They only came over because the wanted a place to drink and they knew I was home alone."

"Did you really say that Ford?" Hannah asks. "Did you really say you've been to third base with Cleo?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I said it."

"Um, actually," I say, "you said you've to third base with Cleo _a lot_." Now everyone's looking at me. "What?" I ask. "Would somebody please tell me where third base is?"

"Let's go take this conservation somewhere else," Hannah says.

"Good idea," Adam says. "You guys got this?" Adam asks Hannah and Crane.

"Sure," they say and they all leave except for Adam. He walks into my room and sits down on my bed.

"Did I make Cleo mad at Ford?" I ask him.

"No. But we've talked about eavesdropping before, haven't we?"

I nod my head and look down at my bedspread. He lifts my chin up with his hand. "What did we say about it?" He asks.

I look into his eyes and say quietly, "not to."

"That's right. And why did we say not to?"

"Because it's not nice?"

"We said more than that."

"Some things I'm not supposed to hear."

"And?" He asks.

"And sometimes I get those things mixed up because...," I just thought of something, "Adam? Did Ford do something wrong? Is Cleo mad at him because he said he went to third base with her?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Adam sighs and says, "it wasn't a nice thing for him to say about her."

"Why?"

"Heidi..,"

"Do you go to third base with Hannah? Does Crane take Isabella there?" Adam looks shocked and then he looks frustrated. He shakes his head while staring up at the ceiling.

"Well, do you?" I ask.

"Heidi, third base isn't a place...,"

"It's not?"

"No. Listen, it has to do with..," he pauses for a while and I stare at him. He's not looking at me though. He rubs his forehead with his hand and he looks really tired. "I don't know how to explain it to you."

That's all he says. "Why not?"

"It's bedtime."

"Wait, you're not gonna tell me where third base is? That's not fair."

"It's late. _I'm_ tired, _you're_ tired, it's time to go to sleep."

"But I can't sleep now! All I'm gonna do is think about third base!"

"Lay down all the way. You're ten. You don't need to worry or think about third base."

"That means it has to do with sex, doesn't it?"

"I didn't say that," he says as he tucks the covers in around me.

"You didn't have to. If you won't tell me what it means, then that's what it's about."

"You're right, it has to do with something you're not old enough to learn about yet, so that's the end of this discussion. I don't want you to ask me about third base anymore. Do you understand?"

I nod my head. I'll just have to ask somebody else. It's like Adam can read my mind though because he says, "don't ask Hannah or your brothers about it either."

I fold my arms across my chest. "That's not fair!"

"Life's not always fair. Heidi you're ten and I don't want you growing up any faster than you already are."

"But..,"

"No buts. Now it's time to go to sleep." Adam leans down and kisses my forehead. "Goodnight."

"I saw a zombie tonight," I tell him.

"What?"

"I saw a zombie and it was scary."

"Did you watch a scary movie?"

"We didn't know it was scary until we saw the zombie. Do you believe in zombies Adam?"

He stands up and says, "no. Scoot over, this is going to be one of those nights, isn't it?" I scoot over and make room for him to lay next to me. He leans his head against my headboard and says, "do you want me to tell you a story, or sing you a song?"

"Tell me about your triple date."

"Ok. We met the girls at the...,"

"What did they look like? Were they dressed up?"

"They looked very pretty. We..,"

"Did you tell them not to order the steak?"

"Will you be quiet and let me tell the story? Now, close your eyes and listen." I close them but only because he's staring at me. "Good, we went to..," and that's all I hear because I fall asleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning at breakfast I'm not that hungry. Actually, I really was hungry until I looked across the table at Ford and saw he wasn't eating. He looks really sad and I feel bad. I hope he gets to talk to Cleo today.<p>

"How come you're not eating?" Hannah asks me.

I look up at her and say, "because I'm sad."

"Why?"

"Because Ford's sad. I feel bad I told Cleo what he said."

"Oh. Heidi, what you said to Cleo was unfortunate, but it's a good chance Cleo would've found out he said it anyway."

"She would've?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, those kinds of rumors get spread around quickly."

"What kind of rumors?"

"Um..,"

She pauses so I say, "never mind. It has to do with sex and I'm not supposed to ask you about it." She looks shocked so I say, "Adam told me not to talk about it. He said don't talk to you, or anyone else here about sex." I must've said that kind of loud because everyone stops talking and looks at me.

"What'd you just say about sex?" Guthrie asks.

"Nothing," I say quietly and I look down at Adam. He's glaring at me so I look down at my plate and everyone goes back to talking and eating. I peek over at Ford and see he's still not eating. I sure hope he gets to talk to Cleo today. I hope she listens.

Breakfast must be over because everyone's starting to get up and carry their dishes to the sink. Hannah says, "will you boys take care of the dishes? I'd like to leave now so I can be back before lunch."

"Sure honey," Adam says.

"Thanks. Alright you two, let's go."

Wait, what? Guthrie looks as shocked as I do.

"Where are we going?" Guthrie asks Hannah.

"I'm going into town to pick up my paycheck and get a few groceries. I need a few extra hands to help me."

"We can't," I tell her.

She looks surprised when I say that, so I say, "I mean, we have plans."

She puts her hands on her hips. "What plans?"

"We're meet...,"

"Never mind!" Guthrie says quickly. "We'll be waiting outside for you!" He pulls me out into the living room. "What'd you do that for?" He asks. "You almost told her what we were doing."

"I'm sorry, but we're supposed to meet John and Kenny at the mine. Now what are we gonna do?"

"It's ok, we'll just meet up with them later."

Ford walks by me on his way to the front door so I follow him. I follow him all the way outside and to the porch steps where I sit down next to him.

"I'm sorry Ford. Are you mad at me?"

"Maybe I was a little bit, but I'm mostly mad at myself. I was just trying to get those guys to go away so I said something really stupid. If you hadn't told her, I would've told her because, those boys aren't really my friends and they're going to tell people what I said." He sounds really sad. "They're gonna tell people what I said about Cleo."

I put my arm around him. "I'm sorry."

"I know. Hopefully I'll get to tell her _I'm_ sorry. She's supposed to be working today."

"Are you coming into town with us?"

"Yes. I'm going to try to talk to Cleo."

"Can I go with you. I want to tell her I'm sorry too."

"I guess so. Just as long as you let me do most of the talking." He looks at me and says, "and if I tell you to go away so I can talk to her in private, you have to go. Ok? And no eavesdropping either."

"Ok."

Hannah and Guthrie come out of the house and we walk with them to the truck. Hannah gets in front and Ford, Guthrie and I climb in back.

* * *

><p>When Hannah parks the truck in front of the general store, we jump out of the truck. Hannah lets me go to the feed store with Ford.<p>

"Mind your brother," she says.

"I will."

Ford walks to the feed store slowly. I look up at him and he looks nervous.

"What's wrong?" I ask him. "Are you sick?"

"No, I just don't know what to say to Cleo."

"Say you're sorry."

"It's not as easy as that," he says. When we get to the store Ford stops. I grab his hand and pull on it.

"Come on. It'll be ok."

"I'm not ready yet. What if she hates me?"

"She's not going to hate you," I tell him and I pull on his hand again.

"What if she never wants to talk to me again?"

"I don't know."

"What if she breaks up with me?"

"Just tell her she can't."

Ford looks down at me. "What?"

"I don't know. I'm ten, I don't know what you're supposed to do or say, or what she's gonna say or do. Just go in there and tell her you're sorry." I walk around behind him and give him a big push towards the door.

Ford looks in through the window. "She's in there," he says.

"Great. Now open the door and go inside."

"I can't."

"Yes you can! If you're not gonna go in there, _I_ am! I'm gonna tell her I'm sorry and then I'm gonna tell her you're too chicken to come in and tell her you're sorry!" I open the door and walk inside.

Ford grabs me and tries to pull me back outside, but I break free. He follows me in and whispers, "I can't believe you just said that!"

"It got you inside, didn't it?" I look up at him and he glares at me. I look at Cleo. She's helping someone at the cash register so I go get in line.

Ford follows me and whispers, "what are you doing?"

"I'm going to apologize. Isn't that why we came here?"

"Let me apologize first," he whispers.

"Ok, go." I push him up to the counter because it's our turn. The man she just helped leaves and we're the only ones in the store now.

"Can I help you?" She asks softly.

I look up at Ford because he's not saying anything. I jab him in his side. "Tell her," I whisper loudly.

"Can I help you?" She asks again, only this time a little louder.

Ford clears his throat. "Cleo?"

"Yes?"

"Um..,"

I jab him again.

"Um, I need to buy some chicken wire."

"What!" I yell and I slap my forehead with my hand. "No you don't!"

"Um, right I don't," Ford says quietly.

"You _don't_ need chicken wire?" Cleo asks.

"No. I...,"

The front door opens and all three of us look to see who walks in and both Ford and I groan. It's those two guys from last night.

"Look who it is," one of them says. "It's Ford and Cleo!" They walk up to the counter and smile at Cleo. "Did you have _fun_ last night?" They ask her and then they laugh and jab each other in their sides.

I look at Cleo and her cheeks turn red and she looks down at the counter. I look at Ford and he looks angry. Ford doesn't get angry a lot so I'm not used to seeing him this way.

"Leave her alone!" Ford says.

"Hey, no need to get angry," the taller boy says with a smile. He looks at the other boy and says, "it looks like someone didn't get to third base last night."

"Knock it off!" Ford says.

"What's the matter Ford? Didn't Cleo put out for you?"

"I'm warning you!" Ford yells.

The boys laugh. "Come on Ford, we're only teasing. Besides, we both know you're not the fighter in your family."

"Look," Ford says, "what I said last night wasn't true." He looks at Cleo and says, "I'm sorry. I said something horrible because I just wanted these jerks to go away last night. I'm really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm so sorry Cleo...,"

"Aw, isn't that sweet," one of the boys says. "They had a little lovers' quarrel. Have you two even been to second base yet? You have been to first base right?"

"I told you to be quiet!" Ford yells.

The other boy laughs and says, "I don't know, Cleo and second base?"

He doesn't get to say anything else because Ford punches him right in the nose!

"Ford!" Cleo yells. I look at her and then I look at Ford. Both boys look angry and the one whose nose is bleeding punches Ford in the face while the other one holds Ford so he can't move. What do I do? The boy punches Ford again. I look around and do the only thing I can think of doing. There's a broom over by the front door and I run and grab it. I hold the straw part so the broom handle is high above my head and then I bring it down right on the back of the boy who's punching Ford.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the reviews!**

* * *

><p>The broom handle lands on the boy's back hard and he yells and turns around to look at me. I bring the handle back up and get ready to hit him again, but he pushes me backwards and I fall into a shelf. I try to brace myself against it, but it's too wobbly and falls down and I fall with it.<p>

The boys stop fighting and look down at me sitting on the floor. I'm sitting in a big mess of what looks like feed and seeds and Ford kneels down next to me.

"Are you ok Heidi?"

I nod my head. "My back hurts and I hit my head, but," I feel the back of my head with my hand and then look at it and shrug my shoulders, "no blood." I pick up some of the chicken feed laying on the floor in my hand and let it spill through my fingers back down to the floor. Cleo comes running over and picks up the broom laying next to me. She starts to say something but all of us look over at the counter because someone's yelling.

"What a mess! What did you kids do?!"

It's Mr. Smith, the owner of the store. He looks angry as he walks around from behind the counter and stares down at me. "What happened?"

He's looking at me when he asks that and I stare up at him and say, "I didn't do this." I point to one of the boys and say, "he pushed me."

"She hit me with a broom!"

"He was punching my brother!" I yell.

"We're sorry Mr. Smith," Ford says. "We'll clean up the mess."

Mr. Smith ignores him and looks closer at the feed on the floor. "It's all ruined!" He says.

I look at what he's looking at. "What's ruined?" I ask. "We'll just pick it up and put it back."

"I can't sell this!" He yells. "You've got the chicken feed mixed with the rabbit feed, and," he kneels down and picks up some of the feed and says, "the bean seeds are mixed in with the feed and so are the corn seeds. Do you know how many different seeds I had on that shelf?"

"A lot?" I ask.

"Yes! At least fifteen different kinds of feed and seeds! This is a lot of money laying here on the floor!"

When he says that the two boys who were fighting with Ford run out of the store.

"Hey!" Mr. Smith yells and he runs outside after them.

Ford looks at Cleo. "I'm sorry Cleo. We'll help you clean up the mess."

She hands him the broom and says, "I'll get another broom from the back."

When she leaves I look up at Ford and say, "we should go. We don't have any money to pay for all this."

"Heidi, we can't leave. We made the mess, we need to stay and help clean up," he says and he starts sweeping up seeds.

"But why? The boys left."

"And they shouldn't have. If we leave who's going to clean this up?"

"Cleo and Mr. Smith."

"Right. That's not fair to them, is it?"

I think about that. I guess he's right. "No, but that boy pushed me!"

"I know, and you hit him with a broom, and we were fighting. Now stand up and move so I can sweep."

"But how are we gonna pay for all of this?" I ask while I stand up. I look at the shelf and try to pick it up, but it's too heavy. Cleo is back and she leans her broom against the wall and helps me put the shelf upright. Mr. Smith is back and the boys aren't with him. He stands in the doorway and looks at the mess again.

"Did the boys get away?" I ask him.

"Yes, but that's ok, I know who they are. I'll be calling their parents."

I look at Ford and then back at Mr. Smith. "You're not gonna call Adam are you?" I hope he says no. "We'll tell him what happened, won't we Ford?"

"Right," Ford says. "You don't need to call our house."

"Well someone's got to pay for this, and I don't think you kids have enough money," Mr. Smith says. "I'm going to...,"

"How much?" I ask.

"Well, from the looks of it I'd say around a hundred dollars."

"A hundred dollars!" I yell. "For chicken feed?!"

"Calm down Heidi," Ford says. "It's not just chicken feed."

"Well it's just a bunch of seeds and feed, why can't we just sweep it up and put it back?" I ask. "You don't have to tell people it's mixed up."

Mr. Smith looks mad when I say that, but he ignores me and walks over to the counter and pulls out a phone book. When I see the book, I run over to him.

"Who are you calling?"

"My suppliers," he says and he takes the phone book with him to the back.

I turn around and watch Cleo and Ford finish sweeping up the mess. When they're done Ford walks over to the counter and Cleo walks to the back to get Mr. Smith. Ford motions for me to come stand with him so I do. When Mr. Smith comes out, Ford apologizes.

"I'm sorry Mr. Smith," he says.

"I'm surprised at you Ford," Mr. Smith says. He doesn't seem as angry now. "It's not like you to fight and you've got a pretty good shiner showing up." Then he looks at me. "Heidi, you shouldn't be hitting people with brooms..,"

"But he was hitting Ford!" I remind him. I feel Ford nudge me a little so I look up at him and he shakes his head.

"You could've really hurt someone with that," Mr. Smith says.

I look at the broom behind the counter and point to it. "With that? How?" I ask and Ford nudges me and whispers, "be quiet."

"But how?" I whisper back.

"It doesn't matter how," he whispers. "It's his store and we're apologizing right now. It's your turn."

I sigh and look up at Mr. Smith. "I'm sorry for making a big mess, and we'll make sure _we_ tell Adam about it so you don't have to call him. Besides, he probably wouldn't answer the phone anyway. He..," I stop talking because Ford squeezes my shoulder kind of hard.

"I'm really sorry Mr. Smith," Ford says again. "We'll leave now." Ford turns to Cleo and says, "I'm sorry Cleo. About everything. Can I call you later?"

She doesn't answer him at first and then she says, "maybe."

"I'm sorry too," I tell her and then Ford takes my hand and leads me to the door.

I turn around to tell Mr. Smith, "the feed store in Sonora sells their feed and seeds in bags. Not open pails like you do. Maybe you should..,"

"Come on Heidi!" Ford says. "He's getting mad. Sorry again Mr. Smith!" Ford opens the door and we walk outside.

* * *

><p>Once we're outside Ford says, "I can't believe you hit that guy with a broom! Thanks for helping me, but you probably shouldn't have done that."<p>

"I was mad when that boy was holding you so the other one could hit you. That wasn't fair. I saw the broom so I grabbed it, and how was I supposed to really hurt somebody with the broom anyways? I'm ten, it's not like I'm strong or anything."

"I don't know, but I bet Hannah could tell you how."

I stop walking. "You're not gonna tell her what happened, are you?! Because I don't want anyone to know what happened. I'm not gonna get grounded because some mean boy pushed me into a shelf!"

"Look at me Heidi," Ford says. "I'm bleeding. How bad does my face look?"

I look at him. "It looks pretty bad."

"And you don't think Hannah's gonna notice that?!"

"But you don't have to tell her about the broom and the big mess! We could pay the money to Mr. Smith and nobody has to know."

"How are we gonna get _that_ kind of money?" Ford asks and he laughs.

I almost want to tell him about the diamonds Guthrie and I are gonna find at the mine today, but I don't. Instead I say, "you never know, it could happen," and I smile as I walk with Ford to the store. He keeps laughing and then I say, "please don't tell Hannah about the broom and the mess. Please? Can't you just say you got in a fight and leave me out of it?"

"Why? I don't think you'll get in trouble for trying to help me, and the mess was just an accident."

"Please?"

"I guess I don't have to tell anyone you were involved."

"Thank you!" I yell as I skip away to the general store to meet up with Hannah and Guthrie.

* * *

><p>"Ford, what happened?!" That's the first thing Hannah asks when she sees him. She holds his chin up to get a better look at his face.<p>

Ford jerks his head away and says, "I'm ok, I just got in a little fight, that's all."

"Yep," I tell her, "that's all. Just Ford, not me. The fight didn't make a mess in the store either."

Hannah looks at me for a second and then back at Ford. "This happened in the feed store?" She asks.

"Yep," I tell her. "Mr. Smith was there and he wasn't mad or anything."

Guthrie pulls me away and says, "what happened?"

"Guthrie, there's no time to explain! We've got to get home fast and get out to the mine to find those diamonds!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'll tell you all about it on our way to the mine, but right now we have to help Hannah get all her stuff and get out of here." I walk back over to Hannah and she's still looking at Ford's face. "Are you almost done with your list?" I ask her. "We should probably get home fast so Ford can put some ice on his eye."

"You're probably right," she says. "I can get the rest of the things on my list tomorrow, after work."

I smile and follow her to the check out line. The sooner we get home, the sooner Guthrie and I can get out to the mine and find those diamonds. We need the money now more than ever!

* * *

><p>When we get home I jump out of the truck and run for the barn but Hannah calls me back.<p>

"Where do you think you're going?" She asks, and I look at Guthrie. What do I say? Do I lie? "We've got groceries to put away," she says.

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh, right, I forgot."

The four of us carry the boxes into the house and bring them into the kitchen where we set them on the table.

"Can we go play now?" I ask.

"Just a minute," Hannah says. "Help put things away while I get some ice out for Ford."

Ford says, "I can get it Hannah."

When Crane and Daniel walk in they take one look at Ford and ask what happened.

Ford tells them about the boys being at the feed store and what they said.

"That's rough," Crane says.

"I know. I feel so bad," Ford says. "Cleo looked so embarrassed! I can't believe I did something so stupid!" He sits down and pounds his fist on the table.

Crane sits down next to him and Daniel sits down on the other side of him. Hannah walks over and puts her hand on Ford's shoulder and rubs it. "I know you didn't mean to hurt her," she says, "but you did. Did you apologize to her?"

"I tried, but then those boys started being mean to her so I punched one! I wish one of you guys had been there to help me," he says to Crane and Daniel.

"Hey!" I yell. "I was there...," I stop talking because I realize I almost said I helped.

Ford ignores me and says, "now those guys are gonna spread what I said all over school! Cleo's gonna hate me! _I_ hate me!" He says.

I look at him. He _hates_ himself?

"Ford, what if Evan and I took care of these boys for you," Daniel says. "We know who they are. We'll have a little talk with them and explain the misunderstanding."

"I hope that doesn't mean fighting," Hannah says.

Daniel smiles and says, "that depends on how well they understand the _misunderstanding_. We'll make sure they don't spread rumors about Cleo, you just make sure _you_ don't spread anymore rumors about Cleo."

I wonder what they're talking about. I wonder if Ford was treating Cleo like a horse.

"I won't," Ford says. "I'll never say anything like that again." He puts his head down. "Do you think she'll ever talk to me again?"

Hannah says, "I hope so."

"I asked if I could call her and she said maybe."

"That's a start," Crane says.

Guthrie runs up to me and says, "done! Come on, let's go!"

We run out of the kitchen and Hannah says, "hey, where are you two going?"

"Same place we went yesterday," Guthrie yells back and we smile at each other.

* * *

><p>On the way to the mine I tell Guthrie all about the fight and the big mess it made. "So see? We've got to find those diamonds today! You don't think Kenny and John already found them, do you?"<p>

"I hope not," Guthrie says. "I don't think they'd share them with us if they did."

"Do you think the diamonds would be worth a hundred dollars?"

"I think they'd be worth thousands!"

"Really?"

"Sure. Diamonds are worth a lot of money."

We ride up to the mine and slide down from the horses. We tie Lucy and Chance up at the oak tree by the stream and untie our packs. We walk to the mine and set the packs next to the mine opening.

"Kenny? John? Are you in there?" Guthrie yells into the mine. They have our flashlights and there's no way I'm going into the mine without my flashlight. No one answers so Guthrie steps into the mine and yells their names again.

"What if they're not here?" I ask Guthrie. "What if they already found the diamonds and went home?"

"Let's go check the cabin. Maybe they're there." Guthrie picks up his pack and starts to walk towards the cabin.

I'm starting to get a scary feeling about being here. We said we'd meet at the mine. "Guthrie? What if something bad happened to them? What if the ghost got them?"

"Heidi, there isn't a ghost."

"Yes there is! We heard it yesterday!"

"That was just a rock. Are you coming with me to the cabin, or are you going to stay here?"

"I'm coming with you!" I pick up my pack and run up to him and we follow the path to the cabin.

As soon as it comes into view Guthrie starts yelling for John and Kenny.

"We're back here!" John yells. He comes running around from the back of the cabin and over to us. "You'll never guess what we found! Come on!"

"The diamonds?!" I yell as we run after him.

"No better!"

I wonder what could be better than diamonds.

We run over to Kenny who is sitting on his knees and digging at something in the ground. "Come look!" He yells. "It's a grave!"

I stop running. A grave? Guthrie runs over to look.

"Do you think it's Jeb?" He asks. "Did you find the diamonds?" He throws his pack on the ground and takes the shovel out.

"It has to be Jeb," Kenny says.

I walk up and look down at the ground where Kenny's digging. It looks like they just found the grave because there's nothing to see except a small hole in the ground with a dirty white bone laying in it. It's about the size of a ruler and part of it looks like it's sticking in the ground. Kenny's digging around it and John kneels down to help.

"We'll dig over here," Guthrie says and he kneels down and starts digging a foot away from the bone. "If it's Jeb, it's going to be a big grave."

"We're probably sitting on some of the bones," John says.

"Heidi, come help," Guthrie says.

I can't believe that's actually Jeb's grave. I drop my pack and take the shovel out. I sit down next to Guthrie and start digging. "Do you think the diamonds are buried with him?"

"Yes!" John says.

This is exciting! I'm only a little bit scared that we're digging up a grave.

"Look! Another bone!" John yells.

He's found a smaller bone next to the other one. "I bet it's a finger!" Kenny says.

"Or a toe!" Guthrie says.

We spend a long time digging and we've uncovered lots of small bones. "Why are the bones so small?" I ask.

"I don't know," Guthrie says. "Let's take a break."

We all stand up and look down at the grave. "Where are his clothes?" I ask. "Wouldn't the diamonds be in his pockets?"

"I don't know," John says.

I pick up my pack and walk over to a log and sit down. I'm hungry. Guthrie and I didn't eat any lunch today and we didn't bring anything to eat with us because we were in a hurry. I still have some water leftover in my canteen from yesterday so I drink that. The boys start digging again and I watch.

"Hey, I think I found a big bone!" Kenny yells out. I run over to see and the boys start digging with their hands around a bone that looks round like a ball. They keep digging until their able to see it better.

"This isn't a man's skeleton! This is a dog!" Kenny yells and the boys groan. I look at the bone and I can see it's a skull but the round part is the back of it. The rest of it makes the shape of a point like a dog.

"Aw man, we wasted all this time digging up a dog's skeleton!" John says and he kicks at the ground a little bit.

"Maybe this is Jeb's dog and he's buried right next to him?" I suggest.

"I don't know," John says, "Kenny, we'd better get going. It's almost five o'clock."

Guthrie looks at his watch. "We should probably go too Heidi."

"But we didn't find the diamonds! We have to find them! Ford and I owe Mr. Smith a hundred dollars!"

John and Kenny want to know what happened so I tell them about the fight and the big mess we made. "So see? I need to find the diamonds. Today!"

"It's too late," Guthrie says. "We'll have to come back tomorrow."

"I'm staying here and looking for the diamonds!" I stomp my foot and glare at Guthrie.

"By yourself?" Guthrie asks and he folds his arms across his chest and glares right back.

Hmmm. "Maybe," I tell him.

"We've got to go," John says. "Do you want to meet us here again tomorrow?"

"Sure," Guthrie says. The three of them start walking towards the path to the mine.

"Guthrie!" I yell after him. "I'm staying here and digging for Jeb's body! The diamonds have to be here!"

"Heidi, come on! We need to go. We'll look for the diamonds tomorrow."

He keeps walking but I don't follow. I pick up my shovel and start digging next to the dog's bones. I bet Jeb's buried right next to his dog.

Guthrie runs back to me and says, "come on! You don't want to be late do you?"

"No, but I have to find the diamonds. Please help me look." I look up at Guthrie and plead with my eyes.

He sighs and puts his pack down. "Ok, but just for fifteen minutes." He takes his shovel out. "Then we _have_ to go. Ok?"

"Ok."

Both of us dig and dig and dig and find nothing. Every time we think we find something, it turns out to be nothing. Finally I throw my shovel down and stomp my foot. "This is too hard!"

"Let's come back tomorrow." Guthrie looks at his watch and says, "we need to go now, it's after five thirty! We have to run!"

We both pick up our packs and run towards the mine where our horses are.

* * *

><p>It's almost dark by the time we get home. We ride our horses over to the barn and hope no one sees what direction we came from. Luckily no one's around so we slide off our horses and untie our packs.<p>

Crane comes walking up from the direction of the house. "We were just getting ready to come look for you guys."

"Who's _we_," I ask.

Crane looks at me kind of funny and says, "your brothers, that's who." He puts his hands on his hips and glares at me until I laugh, because I know he's not really mad and then he smiles. "Where have you guys been?" He asks while he starts helping me take off Lucy's saddle.

"Did you look for us anywhere?" I ask.

Guthrie clears his throat loudly so I look over at him. He says, "we went to the same place we went yesterday."

"Yep," I say. "That's where we went. The same place we went yesterday." I smile because it's the truth.

"And where was that?" Crane asks as he lifts Lucy's saddle off.

Guthrie says, "the pond and the river."

I follow Crane to the tack room and say, "yep, the pond and the river. We found a snake this big!" I hold my arms out wide and Crane looks.

"That's pretty big. What'd you do with it?"

"We let it go," I tell him.

"Good, I don't think the horses would've liked it if you put a snake on their back."

I laugh when he says that and then he says, "hurry and get to the house. You've got to get washed up because we're going out for dinner."

"We are!" I love eating out and we hardly ever get to so it's always exciting when we do.

"Yep," Crane says, "so go wash up. Everyone's waiting."

* * *

><p>"You're filthy!" Hannah says when I walk through the front door.<p>

I look at my hands and they're dirty. So is my shirt and pants.

"What did you do today?" She asks.

I look over at Guthrie and he says, "we were digging for buried treasure," and when I gasp he glares at me and says, "_at_ the river."

"Did you find any?" Brian asks.

"No!" I yell as I run up the stairs. "We found a dead dog's grave though!"

"Where'd you find that?" Evan asks.

Guthrie's behind me on the stairs and he whispers, "stop talking. We never had a dog, how could one be buried on our ranch?"

He's right. At the top of the stairs I yell down, "it must've been a coyote."

"Buried?" Daniel asks. "Why would we bury a coyote?"

I sigh. "I don't know, maybe some guy from the olden days did it."

"Did what?" Adam asks as he comes out of his room and meets us in the hall.

I look over at Guthrie and he says, "we found an animal's skeleton when we were digging for treasure."

"You're still looking for buried treasure?" Adam asks while he ties his tie.

Guthrie squeezes by him and says, "yep, we're gonna find some too." He runs to the boys' room to change his clothes.

Adam calls after him, "you were a little late getting back tonight." He looks down at me. "Did you lose track of time?"

I stare up at him and then nod my head. Suddenly I don't feel so good. My stomach feels a little funny but I don't think I'm sick. "Adam?"

He stops fiddling with his tie and looks down at me. "What? Hannah can you come help me with my tie?"

"I'll be right up!"

"Adam, did you get any phone calls today?" I ask him.

"No, but I wasn't inside today. Why? Am I _supposed_ to be getting a phone call?"

"No."

"Good, because those are never good."

Hannah walks up and says, "Heidi, go get dressed."

She starts to tie Adam's tie and I walk to my room. Wait a minute! "Adam? How come we're all going out to dinner? I thought we couldn't afford that."

Hannah smiles at me and says, "when I picked up my paycheck today, Marie said she gave me a raise. I thought it would be fun for all of us to go out to celebrate."

I think about that. "Shouldn't we save it in case we need it for something?"

"No," she says, "this is special. The next paycheck I get, we can save the extra money. Tonight I want to celebrate. I work hard for that money!"

Adam kisses her on the cheek and says, "_too_ hard if you ask me."

"I know it's hard on you when I work. That's why I want to take all of us out. We can all have a little bit of fun tonight."

"But, shouldn't we save it?" I ask again. "What if we need to pay for something unexpectedly?"

"We always have to pay for something unexpectedly," Adam says. "Now go get dressed, everyone's waiting."

Guthrie and Ford walk by my room and Ford whispers, "did you find your treasure?"

"No," I whisper back.

"Then I gotta tell Adam what happened at the store."

"No, please don't!"

"Heidi, he's not going to be mad," Ford says.

"No, he'll be disappointed, which is worse!"

"Maybe a little, but we gotta tell him. We don't have that kind of money."

"But I already had to pay for a library book I ruined. That was money we don't have. Hannah had to work extra to pay for it. I don't want him to know about the store yet. Please don't tell him Ford. Please? We're gonna find the treasure tomorrow. I promise."

Ford looks at Guthrie.

"We'll probably find it tomorrow," Guthrie tells him.

"Ok," Ford says. "I'll give you until tomorrow night. If you don't find it, I'm telling Adam what happened. But Heidi, I really don't think he's going to be that mad. I think he'll understand."

"You think he'll understand a hundred dollars? Really?" I ask. I can tell by the expression on Ford's face that he's not so sure anymore.

"Maybe you're right Heidi," he says. "Let's just...,"

"Let's go guys!" Brian yells from downstairs.

"Coming!" Guthrie yells and he runs down the hall with Ford while I go into my bedroom and shut the door to get changed.

* * *

><p>"Where are we going?" I ask Hannah from the back seat of the jeep. I have to stand up behind her seat so she can hear me. We're stopped at a stop sign on Main Street in Angles Camp.<p>

"Sit down," she says. "It's dangerous when you stand up like that." After I sit down she says, "we're going to the roadhouse diner."

It's dark outside now and I look around for the restaurant. I stand up again and lean against Adam's seat so he can hear me. "Have I ever eaten there before?"

"I don't think so." He shifts gears and I fall back onto my seat. When my back hits the backseat I yell ow because it hurts my back a lot.

"See," Hannah says, "that's why you shouldn't stand up in a moving car."

"That's not why my..," I almost tell her the real reason my back hurts but I stop myself just in time.

We turn into a parking lot and find a spot to park. As soon as Adam turns off the jeep, we get out and stand next to it and look at the restaurant.

The roadhouse diner is big. It's way bigger than Marie's. It's painted yellow with black and yellow and black checked border. It kind of looks like a taxi cab.

"Hey look!" I yell and I point to the taxi cab on top of the roof. "It's a real car!"

"This place is supposed to have the best burgers and milkshakes around," Hannah says.

"Even better than Marie's?" Guthrie asks.

"I don't think I'll answer that question," Hannah says and she smiles up at Adam.

I pull at Hannah's hand and say, "come on! Lets go inside!" I'm excited! This restaurant looks like fun! "I hear music playing inside!" I try to pull Hannah but she won't come.

"Hold on," she says. "Let's wait for everyone."

Our truck pulls into the parking space next to our jeep and my brothers get out. "Come on you guys!" I yell. "Let's go!" I pull Hannah's hand and this time she walks with me. We all walk through the parking lot together.

"This place is packed!" Daniel says.

"I know! There's even people waiting outside," Ford says.

"I wonder how long the wait is," Hannah says. "Guthrie and Heidi didn't have lunch today. Maybe we should eat somewhere else."

"No, I want to eat here," Guthrie tells her.

"Me too!" I yell as I run over to Evan and hop up on his back for a piggyback ride. As we get closer to the restaurant I see someone I know waiting outside. "Hey look Brian! Look who's here! It's Laura!"

Brian looks and sounds a little mad when he says, "great, it's Laura. Laura and her date."

"We can go somewhere else," Hannah says.

"No," Brian says, "let's eat here. I'm fine."

But from the look on Brian's face I don't think he's fine.


	5. Chapter 5

As we get closer to the entrance of the restaurant Adam says, "I'll go inside and put our name on the waiting list."

I slide down from Evan's back and run up to Laura and her date.

"Hi Laura!"

She looks down at me and says, "hi Heidi!" She gives me a hug and then says, "Heidi, this is Greg."

I look up at Greg. I've met him before. I stare into his dark blue eyes. There's something about him that just makes me want to look at him and never take my eyes off of him. He's tall and has light brown hair underneath the cowboy hat he's wearing. He holds out his hand and says, "well, hello pretty lady."

It's like I'm frozen. I can't move at all. I know his hand is out for me to shake it, but I can't move my hand to reach out and shake it. All I can do is stare at those big blue eyes and...

"Heidi, don't be rude," Crane says, "shake his hand."

I look around me and the rest of my family is standing around us. My cheeks feel hot and I slowly reach out to shake his hand. He smiles at me while we shake and then I stare at him while he shakes Hannah's hand and then my brothers' hands as Laura introduces them to Greg. I think even Brian shook his hand, but I'm not sure because I can't take my eyes off Greg.

"What's the matter?" Guthrie whispers to me.

"Nothing," I whisper back while I stare at Greg.

Guthrie nudges me and says, "you're acting weird."

I look at Guthrie and open my mouth to tell him I'm not, but the door to the restaurant opens and music fills the air. Adam walks over to us and says, "it's a thirty minute wait."

Hannah asks, "should we wait?"

"Yes!" Both Guthrie and I yell at the same time.

"Ok, but it's going to be a while," Hannah says.

Brian walks over to Adam and says, "is there a bar in there?"

"Yes," Adam says, "right in the middle of the restaurant."

"I'll meet you guys inside when you get a table." Brian says and he pushes by us and walks to the door.

"I'll go with him," Crane says.

"Good idea," Adam and Hannah say at the same time.

"Can we go inside and look around while we wait?" Guthrie asks.

"Sure," Adam says and Guthrie and I run to the door.

* * *

><p>The moment we walk into the restaurant Guthrie and I stop and look all around. This place is amazing! It's big and loud and crowded. It's not a fancy restaurant, it's a cowboy restaurant. Most of the people are wearing cowboy hats and cowboy boots.<p>

"Look Heidi!" Guthrie yells and he points to the band playing at the far end of the restaurant. There's a small dance floor where a few couples are dancing to the country music.

I look over to the right. "Guthrie, look! A mechanical bull!" I've always wanted to ride one of those.

"I wonder how old you have to be to ride," Guthrie says.

"Probably eighteen like all the other places," I tell him.

"You never know," Guthrie says, "let's go find out."

We walk through the packed waiting area and the hostess standing at the counter, and through the restaurant towards the mechanical bull. I look around at all the tables full of people. It's loud in here and not just because there's a band playing, but loud because everyone is laughing and talking with each other. People are up walking around like we are too. They're walking on and off the dance floor and visiting friends at other tables. I wonder if there's anyone we know here besides Laura.

Guthrie pulls my arm because I must've slowed down, but there's too much to look at in here. I see the bar too. It's like no bar I've ever seen! "Guthrie look at the bar!" We both stop to look. It's right in the middle of the restaurant. It's not in a room by itself like most bars are. Instead it's marked off with railings kind of like a stair railing only there's no stairs. The bar itself is shaped in a circle and the bartenders are in the middle serving all kinds of people. This place is packed! There aren't any empty stools at the bar and the high tables with stools are packed too. I see Crane and Brian standing at the bar getting their drinks.

"Come on!" Guthrie pulls me towards the mechanical bull and we make our way through the people. The bull is in the middle of a padded area with padded walls that come up to our necks. Guthrie and I run up to a wall and stand on our tippy toes.

The man riding the bull is good. We watch until he falls off and then we make our way to the entrance of the pen.

"Eighteen," Guthrie says sadly.

"Told ya."

There are lots of people standing around watching the next bull rider. They all root her on and she lasts about five seconds.

"I could stay on longer than that," I tell Guthrie.

"Same here," Guthrie says.

Two boys about our age are standing next to us and one asks, "have you ever ridden one before?"

"No," Guthrie says. "You always have to be eighteen."

"I've ridden one before," the boy says.

"You have?" I ask.

"Yes. This one."

I glare at him. "No you haven't."

"I'll show you. Wait until all these people have had their turn and then I'll take a turn."

"Ok," Guthrie says.

After a few people take a ride on the bull the area starts to clear out. The boy whispers to his friend, "Let's go!" They run to the entrance and we follow.

They both slip under the rope blocking off the entrance and one runs to the operating panel while the other runs and climbs onto the bull.

"You can't do that!" Guthrie says.

"Yes I can, my dad owns the restaurant," the boy says and he turns the key in the panel. I watch him press a button and the bull starts moving. It goes slow at first but then it starts picking up speed until the boy falls off.

"How long was that?"

"Twelve seconds!" The boy yells over to him. All of a sudden they both run out of the area and stand around the padded walls again. I look behind me and see a few people walking this way.

"How do you know how to operate that thing?" Guthrie asks.

"By watching my dad. Sometimes he lets me play with it after hours. My name's Jack, and this is my friend Skip."

"I'm Guthrie, and this is my sister Heidi."

"How come you always have to be eighteen to ride one of these?" I ask.

Skip says, "because the grownups like to have all the fun, they think us kids will get hurt. We've ridden it lots and have never gotten hurt."

"Do you guys want to try it?" Jack asks.

I look at Guthrie and smile and he smiles back. "Are you sure we won't get in trouble?" Guthrie asks the boys.

"No, my dad doesn't care. He just doesn't want us hogging it from the adults. See, right now these people are going to ride it. When they're done, you guys can try it."

After the group gets here more people are walking up behind them and Skip says, "it looks like you'll have to try it later. A big group is coming. Come find us later and we'll run it for you."

"Ok," Guthrie says.

Skip and Jack walk off and Guthrie and I watch as a worker walks over to the operating panel and turns the bull on. We watch a few people ride before Guthrie says, "we'd better go back and see if we have a table yet."

"Ok." We make our way through the people and back through the restaurant to the entrance.

* * *

><p>As soon as I find my family I run up to them. "Guess what! Guess what!"<p>

They all look at me while I yell, "there's a mechanical bull inside!"

They seem pretty excited about that too. Guthrie and I tell them about the band and the bar and everything else we saw too.

"This place is amazing," Daniel says. "I wonder how they book their bands."

We all look at the entrance when the door opens to see if someone will call our name, or if it's just people leaving.

"McFadden, party of nine?" A lady calls out.

"That's us!" I yell and we walk to the door.

* * *

><p>The lady walks us to our table. It's towards the middle of the restaurant and when we walk past the bar area, Adam goes in to get Brian and Crane.<p>

Guthrie and I sit next to each other in the middle of the three tables pushed together to make a table long enough for our whole family. Ford sits next to me and Evan sits next to Guthrie. Hannah sits next to Ford and Adam sits across from her when he comes over and Brian, Crane and Daniel sit across from us.

"Can I start you off with some drinks?" The waitress asks.

Hannah and most of my brothers order beer while Evan, Ford, Guthrie and I order milkshakes.

"We'll have a big plate of onion rings to share while we're waiting," Brian tells the waitress.

"You got it."

As soon as she leaves Brian says, "I'd like to take that filly home with me tonight."

"Brian!" Hannah says, "that's..,"

"What? Hey miss," Brian calls after the waitress, "you're welcome to join us on your break if you want."

The waitress looks back at our table and at Brian and her cheeks turn a little pink. She looks down at her pad and smiles as she walks away.

"Are you already drunk?" Daniel asks Brian.

"No little brother. I just know a beautiful lady when I see one."

"Brian!" I yell. "A filly?! Really?! I thought you weren't gonna treat women like a horse anymore! I thought you liked Laura!"

He looks at me and says, "_Laura's_ busy." Brian starts saying other stuff about girls and I ignore him and get up and go stand next to Hannah.

"What's the matter?" She asks me.

"Brian said he really likes Laura. Why is he acting like he likes the waitress?" I ask her.

"He's hurting right now. Seeing Laura here with a date is hard for him. He's jealous and the only way he knows how to feel better right now is to find another woman."

"But he likes Laura."

"I know."

"Doesn't she like him?"

"Sure she does," Hannah says.

"Then why is she on a date with another man?"

Hannah smiles at me and says, "she might like him too. People go out on dates to find out if they like each other."

A man and woman Adam and Hannah know walk up to our table and Hannah says hello to them. I walk back to my chair and sit down.

I look around for Laura and Greg and see them in a booth a few tables over. Laura's laughing at something Greg is saying. She looks happy, but then, she always does. "Brian, what if Laura and Greg are just friends? I think you should go over to their table and ask her to dance."

"She's on a date Heidi," Evan says.

"So, what's wrong with that?" I ask.

"You don't interrupt someone's date," Crane tells me.

I look at Guthrie when Crane starts talking to everyone else. "Maybe Brian can't interrupt Laura's date, but _we_ can."

"How are we gonna do that?" He asks.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we can think of something. We have to come up with a plan. We have to make sure Laura doesn't like Greg."

We think for a little bit until Guthrie says, "I got it!"

* * *

><p>As soon as our milkshakes come Guthrie and I slip away from the table. My brothers are busy talking with some people they know from Angels Camp so they don't notice.<p>

"Remember," Guthrie says, "act like you don't see her."

"Ok."

We walk towards Laura and Greg's table with our milkshakes. When we get closer I get ready. I feel nervous, but I just know this is going to work! When we're right at their table I fall towards Greg and dump my whole milkshake over and onto his lap.

"I'm sorry!" I cry as he jumps and reaches for his napkin. I start to pretend to cry.

"It's alright," Greg says. He squeezes out of the booth and says, "it's just a milkshake. I'll go to the men's room and wash it off. I'll be right back," he says to Laura and I watch him walk away.

Guthrie says, "sorry Heidi, I accidentally tripped you."

"Now I don't have a milkshake, and look!" I point to the floor. "I made a big mess!"

Laura says, "come here Heidi." I walk to her and she puts her arm around me. I peek over at Guthrie and smile.

"I'll go get the waitress to help clean this up," Guthrie says.

I break away from Laura. "No I'll get her. Laura? Will you dance with Guthrie? We were going to go dance while we wait for our food, but then this happened." I give her my saddest face ever and say, "please?"

"Sure," she says. "One dance can't hurt."

"Good! I'll go get the waitress!"

Guthrie sets his shake on the table and walks to the dance floor with Laura. I run over to our table and right to Brian.

"Brian! Brian! Come with me!"

"Not now," he says.

I pull on his arm. "Please? It's important!"

He's listening to Adam talk to a man. "Not now squirt, beat it."

"But Brian! Laura wants to dance with you!"

He looks at me and sets his beer down. "What do you mean she wants to dance with me? She's on a date."

"No, she's dancing with Guthrie. See?" I point to the dance floor where Laura and Guthrie are dancing.

"Where's her date?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess he left. She was all by herself. Please, will you come dance? If you don't want to dance with her, you can dance with me." I smile real big at him. "Please?"

He sighs and says, "ok."

"Yeah!" I jump up and down and clap my hands.

"Just _one_ dance," he says, "and then our food should be here."

He gets up and follows me to the dance floor and I walk right up to Laura. "Let's dance here!" I yell up to Brian so he can hear me over the music.

We start dancing to a really fun song and then Guthrie and I start moving closer to each other so it looks like the four of us are dancing together. The four of us smile and when the song is over the band immediately plays a very popular line dance song that we all start dancing to. After a few seconds Guthrie and I back away so Brian and Laura are dancing next to each other. I don't even think they notice we're gone. They're both smiling at each other and having fun.

Guthrie and I walk back to our table and sit down.

"Where have you two been?" Hannah asks.

"Oh, no where," I tell her.

She gives me a funny look and says, "you two have been up to something."

"Who, us?" Guthrie asks. "Not us." We laugh, but we stop laughing quickly because Laura's date Greg is walking over to our table and he's holding Guthrie's milkshake in his hand.

"Hello. I think you left something at our table," Greg says and he sets Guthrie's milkshake in front of him.

"Thank you," Guthrie says quietly and he slides the shake in front of him and takes a sip.

"No problem," Greg says. "It seems I have a little time on my hands since Laura has found someone to dance with while I cleaned up the milkshake that landed in my lap." He's looking right at me when he says that so I look down at the table.

When he leaves I look up and everyone's staring at me and Guthrie.

"What did you two do?" Hannah asks.

"Nothing," I tell her.

"Nothing?" Adam asks.

I stare at him and don't say anything. Neither does Guthrie.

"Where's your milkshake?" Crane asks.

I shrug my shoulders.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Adam asks. "What happened to it?"

"I accidentally tripped and spilled my milkshake," I say.

"Way over there?"

I nod my head. "Guthrie accidentally tripped me."

My family looks at us and then at the dance floor. "Why is Brian dancing with Laura?" Hannah asks.

We don't answer. We just watch. The two of them look like they're having so much fun. But then we see Greg. He's walking to the dance floor. Uh oh.

"He's not supposed to go there!" I yell.

"Well, he's going there," Daniel says.

We watch him walk up to Laura and Brian and they stop dancing. Brian doesn't look too happy when he sees Greg. Laura doesn't look happy anymore either and she moves to Greg's side. Brian looks mad now. I've seen him look that mad before and I know exactly what he's gonna do!

Adam and Crane do too. They both jump up and Adam says, "Crane, we'd better get over there. I think Brian's ready to explode!"

"Oh no!" I yell and I stand up. "Brian can't hit him! Then we'll have to leave!"

We all watch as Adam and Crane hurry to the dance floor. They get there just as Brian brings him arm back and Adam holds it down. Crane stands on Brian's other side and pats him on his back. Adam says something to Brian and then Greg and Laura. Then Crane and Adam start to lead Brian off the dance floor. He shakes them off and walks back to our table fast. He looks mad.

"Are you ok Brian?" Hannah asks him when he reaches our table.

"I'm fine!" He says and he sits down across from me and glares at me.

Adam and Crane sit down and Hannah asks, "what happened?"

Brian says, "'someone' told me Laura wanted to dance with me. But it turns out, she didn't say that."

I stare at Brian and he glares at me and I can tell he's waiting for me to say something so I say, "I thought she did."

"No, she didn't," Brian says and he keeps glaring at me.

"Would one of you tell us what's going on?" Adam asks. He's looking right at Guthrie when he says that.

Guthrie says, "we just thought it would be nice if Brian could dance with Laura."

"So you pour a milkshake in her date's lap?" Hannah asks.

"It was an accident," I remind them.

"I doubt that Ford and Evan say together and then they laugh.

"Stop meddling," Hannah says. "Leave Laura and Greg alone."

Both Guthrie and I say ok and luckily the waitress brings our food just now, because I think Brian was gonna say something. The waitress has to make two trips to bring all our food out. I look around at all the plates. I think we all ordered steak. The only difference is some of us ordered french fries instead of baked potatoes.

We all start passing the salt and pepper around just like we would if we were at home. When the ketchup gets to me I pour some all over my french fries and then take a bite. "Yum!"

"I know!" Guthrie says. "This is the best dinner ever!"

My brothers laugh and Evan says, "besides Hannah's dinners, right?"

We all laugh and agree with him. I look around at the table. Everyone looks happy while they're eating. Even Brian seems happy. I think he's forgotten about Laura for the moment. This restaurant is the best restaurant we've ever been to!

* * *

><p>After we've all finished eating Adam and Hannah head to the dance floor and Guthrie and I follow the rest of my brothers to the mechanical bull.<p>

Brian takes a turn first. I think he drank too much because he doesn't last as long as he usually does and when he falls off, he doesn't fall off gracefully, he actually lands on his butt. It's pretty funny and we all laugh at him as he sits on the floor and shakes his head.

Crane goes next and he stays on pretty long. He knows he's about to fall off so he jumps off and tries to land as best he can without falling. That's the trick. When you feel you're going to fall off, jump off so you don't look funny like Brian did. At least that's what Evan always tells me.

Daniel takes his turn and then Evan walks up to the bull. "This isn't fair," I whisper to Guthrie. "He's not eighteen."

"I know," Guthrie whispers back. "I'm glad Evan gets a turn, but if they're gonna let him try, they should let us try too."

Evan stays on the longest out of all my brothers. He looks like he's been riding this bull his whole life. I just know he's gonna be a rodeo star someday. I clap for him when he jumps off.

The boys we met earlier come up to us. "Are you ready to try?" Skip asks us. "After all these people leave?"

Both Guthrie and I nod our heads and watch Ford walk up to the bull.

"What?! Even Ford gets a turn?! That's not fair!" I yell.

"Sh," Guthrie whispers. "We'll get a turn, just hold your horses." The boys laugh and I glare at Guthrie, but then I laugh too.

Ford actually does pretty good. When he's done other people are waiting to take a turn. I turn to Guthrie and say, "this is going to take forever!"

"I'm going back to the bar," Brian says and Crane goes with him.

"Let's hit the dance floor little brothers," Daniel says to Evan and Ford. "I saw some single ladies standing by the band just waiting for someone to ask them to dance."

"Are you coming?" Ford asks me and Guthrie.

"Nope," I tell him. "We're gonna watch people ride the bull."

"Alright. Come to the dance floor when you get bored," Daniel says.

Guthrie tells him ok and then we watch the person on the bull. I sigh and rest my head on top of the padded wall. "This is going to take forever. Look at all the people waiting."

"It won't take that long," Jack says. "Nobody rides the bull for a long time."

He's right, but as soon as some people leave, others come and take their place. I close my eyes and rest for what seems like forever. I feel a poke in my side so I open my eyes.

"It's our turn!" Guthrie says.

I lift my head and look around. No one's here! "Where'd everybody go?"

Guthrie shrugs his shoulders. "The bar or the dance floor I guess."

"Where are Jack and Skip?" I ask him.

"Jack had to help his dad and Skip went with him."

"When will they be back?"

"I don't know, but look, this is our chance. No one's around. I'll get on the bull and you operate it."

"What?!" I yell and Guthrie covers my mouth with his hand.

"Sh! I've been watching the operator and it's easy. Come on I'll show you."

I follow Guthrie under the rope blocking off the entrance and over to the control panel. "You just turn the key and press this button." He points to a button with the number one on it. Then he runs to the bull and climbs on.

This is going to be so much fun! As soon as Guthrie holds his hand in the air I turn the key and press the button he showed me, I think. All of a sudden the bull whips around with Guthrie on it and then bucks up and Guthrie flies through the air while I scream.


	6. Chapter 6

Guthrie is thrown off the bull and flies into the wall with a thud. I turn the key to the off position and run over to him and kneel down.

"Guthrie are you ok?"

He opens his eyes and looks at me. "Did you see that?!" He asks. "I flew so high!"

I breathe a big sigh of relief. He's ok. "Guthrie, get up before somebody sees us in here."

He gets up slowly and says, "your turn now."

"I don't know..,"

"Come on. I bet you only last five seconds."

"What?! I could last _way_ longer than that!" I look around and no one's over here. "I can't believe nobody saw us."

"I know. Take a turn Heidi. You may never get a chance to do this again until you're eighteen."

He's right. "Ok." I run to the bull and look all around to see if anyone's watching. I don't see anyone so I climb up the bull which is very hard for me to do. I can't do it by myself so Guthrie runs over and gives me a boost.

"Ok, get ready!" He says and he runs over to the control panel.

The bull is way too big for me. Instead of pressing my knees together against the bulls sides, I have to press my legs tightly against the bulls body which is hard to do because the bull's body is so wide. This bull has a make shift saddle so I grab on to the horn tightly with my right hand and raise my left arm in the air. I feel the bull spin slowly to the right and then it lurches forward and the bull bucks me right off and I go flying through the air just like Guthrie did. I'm thrown into the padded wall and it hurts, but only a little bit.

Guthrie runs over to me and I smile at him. "That was fun!"

"I know," he says. "Do you want to try it again?" He looks around and yells, "quick! Get up! Someone's coming and I think he works here!"

I stand up and look over at where he's looking and sure enough a man dressed in blue jeans, cowboy boots and flannel shirt with a name tag on it is coming over here fast! He sees us too! But I also see Jack and Skip running behind him. They pass by the worker and run over to us.

"Quick! Follow us!" Jack yells.

Guthrie and I run out of the mechanical bull pen and run after Jack and Skip to the side wall of the restaurant. They run down a dark hallway that has an 'employees only' sign in front of it. Jack opens a swinging door and we follow him through it. We're in the kitchen.

"You kids get back here!" I hear the worker yell behind us.

I look behind me and the worker is walking fast trying to catch up with us. "Hurry!" I yell and Jack yells, "this way!"

He runs to a door that has an exit sign above it and pushes it open. The four of us run outside and the door slams closed behind us. We're outside the back of the restaurant in the back parking lot.

"Hurry!" Skip yells.

We follow him over to the cars and we duck down behind a black truck. We can hear the exit door opening and the worker yells, "I saw you Jack! I'm going to tell your dad you've been letting kids ride the bull again!"

I look over at Jack and he shrugs his shoulders. "What?" He whispers. "I don't think it's fair kids can't ride the bull."

The worker yells, "I'll be looking for you four kids inside and when I see you I'm going to tell your parents what you did!"

I giggle. "We don't have any parents."

Guthrie says, "Heidi, you know what he means."

"You don't have parents?" Skip asks.

"Nope," I tell him, "they died when I was a baby."

"Sh," Jack says, "he's saying something else."

"You kids better hope you didn't break that bull! That thing costs a couple thousand dollars!"

"What?!" I yell.

"Sh!" The three boys all say.

"A thousand dollars?!" I whisper.

"A _couple_ thousand," Jack says. "Those things are expensive. That's why my dad doesn't like me playing with it."

"What?! I thought you said he didn't care," Guthrie says.

"I know, I kind of lied about that part. Sorry," Jack says.

Skip asks, "Tim's gonna tell your dad, isn't he?"

"Yeah, we'd better stay out here for a while," jack says. "My dad'll really tan my hide if he finds out you guys were riding the bull."

Guthrie says, "can't you just say you don't know us and we rode the bull on our own? We did ride it all by ourselves."

"Naw, he's still gonna be mad because I helped you escape. Besides, he won't believe we had nothing to do with you guys riding the bull."

Skip says, "we'll just stay out here until Tim takes a break."

"But our family's in there," I say. "They're gonna wonder where we are."

"You can try going back inside, but Tim will be looking for you, and he really 'will' tell on you. He tells on me all the time now because once I told my dad he left the key in the mechanical bull operating panel. My dad yelled at him pretty good. You'd think Tim would remember to take the key out after that, but he never does. If my dad knew, he'd probably fire him."

"Your dad sounds really mean," I tell Jack.

Jack shrugs his shoulders. "Sometimes. That's why we have to stay out here for a little while. We have to wait for Tim to get busy and forget about us."

Skip says, "come on, let's go around front and look in through the windows. That way we can keep an eye on Tim."

We all agree and come out from behind the black truck. We walk around the restaurant and the whole time we're walking I hope we don't run into Tim, or Jack's dad.

* * *

><p>"Come on! We've been waiting out here forever!" I say as I throw a small rock out into the parking lot.<p>

"It's only been a few minutes," Guthrie says and he turns back around to look through the window.

Guthrie, Jack and Skip are looking in the restaurant window. The windows have hedges in front of them so if Tim is around they can duck down and be hidden. I'm sitting on the ground looking for rocks in the dirt underneath the hedges and throwing them in the parking lot.

I hear the music playing from inside and I wish I was in there dancing. The music gets louder every time the door to the restaurant opens and people either go in or come out. This time when it opens two men come out to smoke.

"Why are they coming out here to smoke when they can smoke inside?" I ask as I hurl a small pebble high up in the air. It lands on the roof of the restaurant.

"They're not smoking cigarettes," Jack says.

I look over at the men and ask, "then what are they smoking..., never mind, I know." I look closer at the men and they look younger. They're probably Daniel's age or a little older. "Guthrie, I'm bored, can we go inside now?"

"Do you want Tim to tell on us?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "Actually, I don't really care if he does now. I just want to go inside and have fun."

"You really don't care if Adam finds out we rode a mechanical bull when we weren't supposed to?"

"Nope."

"Well I do."

The door opens again and I look over the hedge to see who's coming out. It's Laura and her date. I open my mouth to say bye to her, but decide not to. Instead I listen to them talk on their way out to the parking lot.

"This was a nice evening," Laura says.

"I think so too," Greg says.

"Thanks for bringing me here. It was good to catch up."

"We can still do some more catching up," Greg says. "We can visit some of our old stomping grounds."

"No, it's late. You can just take me home."

"Alright, I can take a hint," Greg says and he smiles at her. "You don't want to spend any more of your time with me."

Laura laughs and says, "stop it Greg." He laughs too and then they both stop walking and look at each other. I've seen that look before. It's the look people give each other right before they kiss! I find a pebble quickly and throw it at Greg's head just as he leans in to kiss Laura.

"Ow!" He rubs the back of his head and looks around. He can't see me from where I'm sitting, but I can see them and I don't think they're gonna kiss now because Laura says, "Greg, I have a few things to think about before we start something up again."

"I know, it's just so good seeing you again. Take some time and think things over. You're worth the wait Laura."

I sigh. Greg seems so nice it's hard not to like him. I watch them walk over to a white truck and Greg opens the passenger side door for Laura and she gets in. Greg closes the door and then walks around to the drivers side and gets in. I watch them drive out of the parking lot and wish that was Brian and Laura driving away instead.

"Guthrie, I want to go inside now!" I tell him and I stand up.

"We can't yet. What if the mechanical bull is broken? What if _we_ broke it? As soon as someone rides it we'll know and if it's not broken we'll go inside."

"What if it _is_ broken?" I ask.

"You'd just better hope it's not."

The music sounds louder so I look over the hedge to see who's coming outside. It's Brian! Brian and a girl. A girl he has his arm around.

"Brian!" I yell and I run over to him. "Brian!"

"Hi munchkin," he says and he pats my head. He's drunk. I can tell he is because he's talking funny. "This is my little sister Heidi," Brian tells the girl. "Heidi, this is Candy."

The girl bursts out laughing and says, "_Sandy_!"

"Oh right. Whatever. Candy, Sandy. Sandy, Candy. Hey, how 'bout Mandy?" Brian says and they both laugh. "Mandy, it is," Brian says.

They're obviously walking to a car so I walk with them. "Where are you going?" I ask them.

Brian says, "I'm taking Mandy home."

"_You're_ driving her home?!" I ask.

"Nooooo," Mandy or Candy or whatever her name is says. She puts her finger up to her lips and says, "sh." Then she laughs and points to herself and says, "_I'm_ driving _him_ home." She points to Brian and then trips a little.

"Are you drunk too?" I ask her.

Sandy shakes her head no and smiles really big.

"Please don't drive my brother home. Murphys is a long way from here..."

"Oh I'm not driving to Murphys," she says. "I'm taking him home. _My_ home."

"What?! Why?!" I grab Brian's arm and start pulling on him to get him to stop. "Brian no! You can't go home with her!"

They both laugh and Brian says, "why not?"

"Because you like Laura, remember?"

Brian glares at me when I say Laura's name and Sandy asks, "who's Laura?"

"No one," Brian tells her. "Let's get out of here."

"No! Brian!" I yell and I pull on his arm again. "Stop Brian! You can't go with her!"

Brian stops walking and says to Sandy, "can you wait for me for just a minute?"

"Sure." Sandy points to a white truck and says, "that's my truck." She laughs and says, "at least I think it is." She opens her purse and pulls out some keys and holds them high up in the air. I have no idea why.

Brian kneels down in front of me and puts his hands on my shoulders. "Look," he starts to say, but I back up.

"Eew! Your breath smells like beer!"

Brian pulls me back so I'm standing close to him again. "Look," he says and he holds my arms tightly to my sides, "I'm going home with this girl and there's nothing you can do to stop me. I'm an..,"

"But you said you liked Laura! You said you didn't like girls like Sandy anymore!"

"Who's Sandy?" Brian asks.

"The girl you're going home with!" I remind him.

Brian smiles, "oh yeah, I forgot."

"See! You don't even know this girl! Why do you want to go with her?! Why?!"

"Because I can!" Brian yells and he looks angry now and I think I'm gonna cry.

"Oh Briaaaaan." Sandy calls out. We look over at her and she's shaking her car keys up in the air. "I found the car."

"Be right there," Brian yells over and I watch Sandy put her head down and then I hear her throw up.

"Why?!" I yell at Brian. "You don't want her!"

"Yes I do!" Brian yells. "This is me Heidi! This is who I am! I'm not meant to have a steady girlfriend! I'm the guy who gets all the pretty girls that just wanna..," he stops talking but I'm pretty sure I know what he was going to say. "And that's all I wanna do too! So leave me alone!"

I cry now. Hard, and Brian stands up. "Sorry kid, but that's just the way it is." He turns around to walk over to Sandy's truck and I pull on his arm again. "Stop it Heidi!" He yells and he shakes me off.

"No!" I yell back and I run up to him and punch him in the back. That doesn't make him stop so I grab his shirt and pull on that.

"Leave me alone!" He yells and he pushes me away from him a little bit.

I cry and stand there and walk over to Sandy's truck. He walks over to Sandy and gives her a kiss on her forehead. "Sorry," he says. "Little sisters are a pain in the a** sometimes." I watch as Sandy opens the driver's side door and gets in while Brian's runs around to the passenger side.

"I hate you Brian!" I yell.

Sandy starts the truck and pulls out of the parking spot. I feel so angry right now! I feel like I could just explode! "I hate you Brian! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" I run back to the place where I was finding little rocks to throw and pick up a big rock. A rock the size of a baseball. I run after Sandy's truck as it drives out of the parking lot and onto the street. "I hate you Brian!" I yell and I throw the rock as hard as I can.

It's as if everything's moving in slow motion right now. The rock flies up in the air and I hear Guthrie saying slowly, "no... Heidi... don't.. throw... it!"

I don't take my eyes off the rock as it falls down right onto the front windshield of a truck. The rock goes right through the windshield and makes a hole. Glass shatters everywhere and all I can do is stand there frozen.

"That's my dad's truck!" Jack yells. "You broke the window on my dad's truck!" Guthrie, Jack and Skip coming running up to me. "My dad's gonna kill you!"

I take one look at Guthrie and start crying. "What do I do now?"

Guthrie doesn't answer at first and then he puts his hands on top of my shoulders and says, "I'll take care of this. Ok?"

"How?! I broke a window! Now I owe even more money! How are we going to pay for this?"

"We'll find the diamonds Heidi. We'll find them, ok?" He says and he looks right into my eyes when he says that.

I nod my head slowly. "Do you really think so?"

"We have to. There's no way we can afford this if we don't." Guthrie turns to Jack and says, "I need to go inside and find one of my brothers. Will you..,"

"There you are!" Daniel says. "We've been looking all over for you guys! Hey, Evan," Daniel calls out behind him, "go tell everyone they're out here." Then he looks at us. "Why are you crying Heidi?"

"You let Brian leave with a girl!" I run up to Daniel and start hitting him.

"Whoa!" He yells and he grabs my arms and holds them tightly. "What's the matter?"

"You let Brian leave with a girl! A drunk girl! They're both drunk and she's driving him to 'her' house and they're gonna have sex!" I cry. "What if they get in an accident? What if Brian dies because this girl is drunk?"

Daniel hugs me and says, "I didn't know Brian left. Let me get Adam and Crane and we'll see if we can find them. Maybe someone knows who he left with and we can check to see if they made it home ok. We'll find him Heidi." Daniel stops hugging me and calls out to Guthrie, "come inside with me."

Guthrie runs over to Daniel and we start walking to the entrance. Jack and Skip follow behind us. Daniel's walking fast and we try to keep up with him.

"Daniel," Guthrie says, "there's something you should know."

"Can it wait? I want to get Adam and Crane and go searching for Brian."

"I guess it can wait," Guthrie says.

I'm glad. I'm not ready to tell about the broken window yet. When we reach the door Daniel opens it up and music fills the air. I look around and see Tim standing at the front counter. When he sees us he walks around it and over to us. Daniel rushes by him and I try to stay with Daniel but Guthrie holds me back.

"It's better to find out if we broke the bull on our own first," he whispers to me.

"I knew you'd have to come in sooner or later," Tim says. He looks at Jack first. "You're dad is waiting for you and Skip in his office." Tim looks at me and Guthrie now and says, "take me to your parents."

"We don't have..," I start to say, but Guthrie pokes me with his elbow so I look at him and glare.

"Is the bull broken?" Guthrie asks.

"No, you're lucky. The last time Jack played around with the bull he broke it."

I put my hands on my hips and say, "broke it how?"

Tim glares at me and says, "never mind how, he broke it."

"Because _you_ left your keys in the panel?" I ask.

Guthrie whispers, "Heidi, stop talking. You're making him mad and none of us were supposed to ride the bull." I turn to face him and open my mouth to say something and Guthrie says, "_even_ if he left his keys in the panel."

Daniel, Adam, Hannah and Crane come rushing up to us and I can see Evan and Ford aren't far behind.

"Heidi, who did Brian go home with?" Adam asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "Her name was Candy, or Mandy, or something like that."

"And you're sure they were drunk?" Hannah asks.

I nod my head. "Yes. They were both talking funny and she threw up. She's taking Brian to her house and they're gonna have," I look around me and then say, "S... E... X."

Adam looks at Crane and says, "let's check the bar and see if anyone knows who he went home with. Maybe we can find out where she lives and swing by to make sure they got home ok."

"Are these your parents?" Tim asks. I forgot he was here.

"No!" I yell.

Adam and Crane look at me funny and Hannah tells them, "go to the bar. Whatever this man needs parents for, I'll handle."

Crane and Adam head to the bar while Hannah asks, "I'm their sister-in-law. Their parents aren't here tonight."

"Well ma'am, these two were riding the mechanical bull."

Hannah looks shocked when she looks at us so I look down at the floor. I hear Daniel say, "Guthrie!" And Evan and Ford groan.

Tim says, "I'm sure I don't need to tell you how dangerous that was."

"No, no you don't," Hannah says and I can hear the disappointment in her voice. "I will have a talk with them."

"Good, that bull can very dangerous and that's why we need to make sure the kids don't ride it."

"I understand," Hannah says. "Thank you for letting me know."

"I trust you will keep an eye on them, then?" Tim asks.

"Yes," Hannah says, "I'm sorry we weren't earlier. Come on you two, let's go have a little talk."

We follow Hannah back to our table and I while we're walking there I say, "Hannah, he left his keys in the panel!" When she doesn't say anything I say, "he left his keys there. Hannah?"

She ignores me while we walk to the table. As soon as we sit down she talks and I can hear the disappointment in her voice so I look away. "You should've known better. I saw the sign that said you have to be eighteen to ride and I know you saw it too. Heidi look at me." I look at her even though I don't want to.

"Hannah, he left the keys there! That's not fair!"

Guthrie kicks me under the table so I kick him back. "Hannah, I'm sorry we rode the bull," Guthrie says. "I knew we weren't supposed to.."

"He shouldn't of left his keys there!" I complain.

"Heidi, you knew you weren't supposed to ride the bull, didn't you?" Hannah asks. When I look away from her she says, "Heidi?"

"I'm not talking to you!" I tell her and Guthrie groans. Why do I have to talk to her? It's not like she's in charge of me. Luckily my brothers come to the table to talk to her.

"We have a name and an address," Adam says. "We'll go check it out."

"Why don't we all go," Hannah says. "I think we outstayed our welcome." Adam gives her a funny look and she says, "I'll tell you later."

We stand up to leave and as we're walking to the door I see Jack and Skip coming towards us with a very angry looking man following behind them. Oh no! I stop walking and wait for all my brothers to pass by me and then I hide behind them as we walk to the door.

"Um, Adam," Guthrie starts to say.

"Not now," Adam says, he's talking to Daniel and Crane about how to find the street the girl lives on.

Guthrie pulls on Adam's arm and says, "it's kind of important."

Adam and my family stop walking and Jack, Skip and I guess Jack's dad stop in front of us.

Hannah says, "this must be about the kids riding the mechanical bull. I'm sorry sir."

"What?" Adam asks her.

Guthrie says, "there's something..,"

"I'm the owner of this restaurant and my son says there was an incident in the parking lot involving your kids."

Adam looks at Guthrie and I hide behind Ford. "Do you have something to tell me?"

"I'll tell you what happened," the owner says, "one of your kids threw a rock at my truck and broke the window!"

"Guthrie?" Adam asks as he looks at him. Guthrie doesn't say anything. He just stares up at him so Adam looks over at me. I look down at the floor.

"Heidi?" Adam says. When I don't answer he says, "will one of you please tell me what's going on?"

I don't know what to say, but luckily I don't have to say anything because Guthrie does. "I accidentally broke the window."

"What?!" Skip, Jack and I all say. I move past my brothers so I'm standing next to Guthrie. Skip and Jack look at him like he's crazy.

"What are you doing Guthrie?" I whisper.

"Let me do this," he whispers back. "You already owe money for messing up Mr. Smith's store."

"Guthrie, is that true?" Adam asks.

"Yes. I'm sorry."

Adam looks at the owner and says, "I'm sorry." He says other stuff after that but I don't listen. I'm too busy thinking. I wonder why Guthrie took the blame for the window. Actually, no I don't. He did it for me. I hope he doesn't get in too much trouble.

"Heidi?" Hannah says.

I look up at her. What's happening? Everyone's walking towards the door. Did the owner say we don't have to pay for the window?

When we're outside everyone follows the owner to his truck. The window looks bad. The rock broke through the window all the way but instead of a hole the size of the rock, there's no hole and half the windshield is gone.

"I didn't know I could throw that hard," I say out loud without thinking.

"What did you just say?" Ford asks.

"Nothing." I hope nobody else heard me say that.

Adam and Crane talk to the owner about the damage.

"Was that regular glass?" I ask Evan and Ford since they're standing next to me and we're not really a part of the other conversation.

"What do you mean?" Evan asks.

"Was that strong glass or really weak cheap glass?"

"What?" Ford asks.

"I'm just wondering if the glass was strong."

"Yes," Evan says.

"Wow. Guthrie must've thrown the rock really hard."

"Don't worry about that," Ford says. "Why don't we wait by the jeep so they can talk to the owner. We should probably stay out of the way."

"Good idea," I say. Jack's dad looks angry and I don't want to be anywhere near him. I'm sorry Guthrie has to stand there and listen to all the stuff they're saying.

"What were you guys doing out here?" Ford asks.

"Hiding."

"From what?"

"From one of the workers."

"Why?" Evan asks. "What'd you do?"

I look up at them. "We rode the mechanical bull."

"Do you know how hurt you could've been?" Evan says. He sounds mad.

"Yes, but guess what? I probably stayed on the bull for ten seconds."

"You're lucky you didn't get killed," Evan says.

"What?! You sound like Hannah. How's riding a mechanical bull gonna kill me?!" I put my hands on my hips and glare up at Evan.

"Don't glare at me like that," he says. "And take your hands off your hips too. There's a reason why those bulls are for adults and not kids. You can get hurt. That's why there are kiddie mechanical bulls at the fair and rodeos. You can't get as hurt on one of those."

Evan keeps on talking but I'm tired of listening so I stop. Those kiddie mechanical bulls are for _little_ kids! Not ten year olds. I bet Evan rode a real mechanical bull when he was my age. I bet all my brothers did. "What's taking them so long?" I ask as I kick the back tire on the jeep.

"You're not even listening to me, are you?" Evan asks.

"Nope."

Evan's mad and he walks away from us and back over to where the rest of my family is. It looks like Adam and Crane have gone inside with Jack's dad and Daniel and Hannah are talking to Guthrie. I bet it's about the window.

Ford says, "Heidi, do you..,"

"Ford, I don't want to listen to you either," I tell him, "if all you're gonna do is tell me how dangerous riding the bull was. I saw you ride it and you're not eighteen."

Ford's quiet now. Good, I don't feel like listening to anyone right now. I look out to the road because I hear sirens. I wonder if it's an ambulance, fire truck, or police car. I don't have to wait long to find out because all three drive past the restaurant.

"Brian!" I yell. "Ford, did Brian get in an accident?!"

"I don't know." Ford says and he runs over to Hannah, Daniel and Guthrie. I run the other way. Towards the street. I can't believe Brian got in an accident! What if he's dead? I've got to find him.

"I'm coming Brian! I'm coming!" I yell.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

><p>"Heidi, get back here!" Ford yells.<p>

I'm not stopping. I'm going to wherever the sirens are going. Ford catches up to me quickly though, and he grabs my arm to stop me.

"Let go Ford!" I try to wiggle away, but I'm not strong enough.

Evan runs up and asks, "where are you going?! You can't just run away like that!"

"I'm not running away! I'm trying to get to Brian! He's been in an accident!"

"You don't know that Heidi." Evan kneels down in front of me. "I'm sure he's fine. Those sirens were probably for something else."

"Evan, Brian and that girl were really drunk!"

"We'll go check on them. We just need Adam to finish talking with the restaurant owner and then we can go look for Brian." Evan smiles and says, "ok?"

I nod my head even though I don't think Brian's ok. I feel really scared for him. Like something bad has happened to him.

"Good," Evan says. "Now walk back with us and we'll see if Adam's ready to go."

Evan stands up and we walk back to the parking lot. I run up to Adam and it looks like he's done talking to the restaurant owner so I blurt out, "Brian got in an accident!"

Adam looks down at me and says, "I don't think so, Heidi. We're going to go look for him now, and I'm sure he's fine."

Crane says, "if I know Brian, and I think I do, he's probably at this girl's house crashing there for the night."

I glare at Crane. "No he's not! He's having..,"

"That's enough," Adam says.

I hear some of my brothers laugh a little and Hannah says, "come to the jeep with me Heidi. Let your brothers talk about where they're going."

I'm mad, but I follow Hannah to the jeep even though I don't want to. "Hannah! Why'd you let Brian leave drunk?!"

"I didn't know he left."

"Well you should've watched him better!" I yell at her.

"It sounds like we should've been watching you and Guthrie better too," she says.

I ignore that and climb up into the jeep. I sit in the middle of the back seat and wait for my brothers to come.

* * *

><p>"Why'd you let Brian leave when he was drunk?!" That's the first thing I ask Adam when he gets in the jeep. Ford and Guthrie squeeze in on either side of me.<p>

"Heidi, none of us knew he was leaving," Adam says. He looks back at me and says, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to see Brian drunk like that. We're going to go look for him now and we need your help. Do you think you can remember what the truck looked like? We don't have a house number for the girl he left with, only the street she lives on. Do you think you could recognize the truck if you saw it?"

I nod my head. "It was white. It wasn't a new truck, but it wasn't old and beat up like our truck." Adam smiles at me when I say that. "There's probably puke all over it too, because that girl was really drunk."

Guthrie laughs and that makes me smile.

Adam starts the jeep and says, "you look out for the truck."

As soon as Adam drives the jeep out of the parking lot, I look all around for the truck. I also look for the ambulance, fire truck and police car, but I don't see them anywhere. I don't hear them either.

Adam drives down Main Street and then slows down when he comes to a cross street. I think he's trying to read the street sign. Hannah says, "the sign says Pine Street."

Adam turns left onto it and I look behind me to make sure Crane, Daniel and Evan follow us in the truck when we turn. Adam drives slowly because there aren't any street lights and I think he's looking for another street to turn onto.

I look all around for the white truck and when we pass one parked on the street I stand up and yell, "there's a white truck!"

Adam brakes hard and I fall forward and smack into the back of the front seat and then I fall backwards onto my seat. "Ow!" That hurt my back.

Hannah looks back at me and says, "please don't stand up while we're driving. You can get hurt."

I ignore her and point to the white truck parked in front of a house. "There's a white truck!"

Adam says, "this isn't the street she lives on so my guess is that's someone else's truck. Wait until we get to her street."

Adam starts driving again and slows down when he comes to another street. "Can you read that street sign?" He asks.

"I think it says Fir Street," Hannah says.

Ford says, "it does."

"That's not it," Adam says. "We need Elm Street." He drives down the street slowly to the next street.

"That's Elm," Hannah says.

Adam turns onto that street and I look behind me again to make sure our truck is still behind us. I turn back around when I see it is and look for the white truck again. "Is this her street?"

"No, she lives on Birch," Adam says.

"That's Birch," Hannah says and she points to a street on her right. Adam turns onto it and says, "keep your eyes opened." He drives the jeep slowly down the street and past houses.

All of a sudden I see a white truck parked a few houses down. I stand up and yell, "there!"

I point to it and when Adam brakes hard again I fall back against the seat. Adam says, "you scare me when you yell in my ear like that." He drives up to the white truck slowly and parks behind it.

"Sorry." I know Hannah's looking at me and is probably mad I stood up again so I look away from her and at the white truck in front of us.

"This is it!" I yell excitedly.

"Are you sure?" Adam asks. "There are other white trucks parked on the street too."

I look around and see other white trucks parked in front of houses. "I don't know." I feel like crying.

"It's ok Heidi. We'll find him."

"How?!" I ask as him and Ford get out of the jeep.

Adam sighs and says, "we go door to door."

When Guthrie and I start to get out Hannah says, "you two stay here." She gets out and says, "let _us_ find Brian."

Crane, Daniel and Evan walk up to the jeep and Adam starts telling them what to do. "Crane, you, Evan and Daniel check out that house," he points to the house this white truck is parked at, "Ford, Hannah and I will go to that house with the white truck," he points to the house next to it because that has a white truck in front of it too.

When they walk off I get out of the jeep and Guthrie gets out too. "Come on," I tell him and I grab his arm. "We're going to that house!"

I point to a house across the street that has a white truck parked in front of it. We run across the street and up to the house. The porch light isn't on, but there's a dim light coming from the front window. Guthrie and I run up to the door and start knocking on it.

"Open up! Open up!" I yell.

"Ok, that's enough Heidi. I think they heard us," Guthrie says, but the door isn't opening fast enough for me.

"Open the door!" I yell as I bang on the door again.

Guthrie grabs me and pushes me back a little. "You don't know if this is the right house. Just give them a chance to open the door."

I hear a woman's voice say, "I'm coming, I'm coming. Hold your horses." The door opens and Sandy, the girl Brian went home with, is standing there.

As soon as I see her I push my way past her and into the house. "Brian! Brian!" I yell. I don't see him here in the living room and I don't see any other lights on in the house.

Guthrie yells, "wait Heidi! You can't just barge into someone's house!"

I ignore him. If Brian's here I can barge in. He's my brother and I need to make sure he's ok.

"Wait a minute," Sandy says, "who are you?"

I look at her. She's wearing a satiny robe and holding it closed with her arms across her chest.

"Where's Brian?!" I yell at her. "And why aren't you wearing your clothes?"

"Sandy?!" I hear Brian yell.

I look to where Brian's voice is coming from. It's a dark hallway and I run to it. "Brian?!" I yell.

"Wait!" Sandy yells. "Don't go back there!"

"Heidi, come back!" Guthrie yells.

"Brian?!" I yell again.

"Heidi?" I hear Brian say.

Brian's voice is coming from a dark room. A lamp turns on and I see Brian sitting up in a bed holding a sheet up to his stomach.

"Brian!" I yell. "What are you doing?!"

"Why are you here?" Brian asks. "And _how_ did you get here?" Brian looks confused and he scratches his head while he looks around. "Where's Candy? Where am I?"

I put my hands on my hips and yell, "you're at _Sandy's_ house and you're drunk, and you're coming home now! So get up and get dressed!"

Brian looks at me like he's confused and then he bursts out laughing.

"What's so funny!" I yell.

Brian says, "this is the craziest dream I've ever had."

"It's not a..," I feel a hand on my shoulder so I look up. It's Adam and he looks a little mad.

"Go outside," he says to me.

"Wait," Brian says, "what's going on? This isn't a dream."

Sandy pushes by me and says, "no, it's not. Brian, it seems your family was a little worried about us driving home."

"A little?!" I yell. "You were so drunk..,"

"Heidi," Adam says and he squeezes my shoulder kind of hard, "go outside."

"No way!" I yell. "Get up Brian! We're going home!"

Brian laughs again and Adam looks down at me and says, "go!"

I glare at him and put my hands on my hips. I don't think he liked that because he lifts me up by my armpits and carries me out to the living room where Crane is. Adam sets me down in front of Crane and then walks back into the hallway. I try to follow, but Crane holds me back.

"Brian! Get dressed Brian!" I yell so Crane picks me up and carries me outside, but I'm not going out without a fight. I yell and try to get down. "Put me down Crane! Brian! Come out here!"

Everyone else is outside on the porch and when I start to yell again Crane covers my mouth with his hand.

"Be quiet," he says, "you're going to wake up the neighborhood."

I struggle to break free, but I can't.

"She's feisty tonight," Daniel says with a smile.

Crane says, "yes. Heidi, if you want me to move my hand, you have to promise me you'll stop yelling. Can you do that?"

I nod my head and Crane moves his hand. I hear Adam coming to the door and he's apologizing to Sandy. "I'm sorry," he says, "we were just a little worried. I'm sorry for the intrusion. Have a nice evening."

He walks out of the house and the door closes behind him.

"Where's Brian?" I ask. Crane puts me down and him, Daniel and Adam start walking to the street.

"He's staying here," Adam says.

"What?!" I yell. "No he's not! He's coming home with us!" I turn around to walk back up to the door, but strong hands are holding me back and then turning me around.

"We're going home now," Adam says and he takes my hand and starts walking towards the street.

I don't budge. "I'll wait here," I tell him.

He picks me up like I'm a sack of potatoes and throws me over his shoulder.

"Hey!" I yell. I start hitting at his back while he crosses the street. "Put me down! I need to get Brian! He can't stay here! He can't have sex with that girl!" I start to cry now and Adam brings me down from his shoulder and sets me in the backseat of the jeep.

"We're going home," Adam says. "Brian's staying here. End of story."

"But he can't! What about Laura?!"

No one answers me. I watch Adam get in the front seat and then he starts the jeep. Ford is sitting next to me in the middle and I look up at him and start to cry. He puts his arm around my shoulders and hugs me close to him.

Adam tells Hannah, "I know he's an adult, but sometimes I think he acts just like a child."

Hannah puts her hand on his arm while he drives and says, "I know. I worry about what kind of impression he just gave Heidi and Guthrie."

Adam shakes his head. "I know. I'm sure he was angry to see Laura on her date, but the way he handled it wasn't good. He just doesn't think before he does stuff!"

"I'm glad he's ok," Hannah says. "It sounds like he was really drunk."

I'm glad he's ok too. I sigh and then wipe my eyes. Everyone is quiet for a little bit until Adam breaks the silence.

"Guthrie? Why were you throwing rocks?" Adam asks.

I look over at Guthrie and he looks at me. Then he says, "I guess I was just mad at Brian..., so I threw a rock." He looks at me again and I shrug my shoulders. Sounds good to me.

"That doesn't sound like you," Adam says.

"Well, it wasn't me!" I blurt out.

Everyone's quiet again after I say that. After a few minutes Hannah turns the radio on and I listen to the song while I stare out at the side of the road. This has been one long day and I'm ready to go home.

* * *

><p>The ride home is taking forever. Usually I fall asleep on the way home from Angles Camp, but this time I can't. I can't stop thinking about Brian and why he's spending the night at a girl's house. He doesn't even know her. A horrible thought pops into my head.<p>

"Ford, do you think Laura is spending the night with _her_ date?"

"No."

"You don't?"

"No. I don't think Laura's that kind of girl."

"_What_ kind of girl?" Ford looks embarrassed now. I wonder why. "_What_ kind of girl?" I ask again.

"I don't know..., it's hard to explain," he says.

"Why?"

"It just is."

"Hannah?" I stand up and poke her shoulder and then sit down really fast before she can see me standing up. When she turns around and looks at me I ask, "what kind of girl is Sandy?"

"Who's Sandy?"

"The girl Brian's with. Ford said she's a different kind of girl than Laura is."

"Oh." Hannah looks embarrassed like Ford did. "Well...," she's thinking hard of what to say and then she finally says, "some girls like to...," she pauses to think some more, "they like to spend the night with men they don't know too well. Other girls don't like to."

"Which kind of girl are you?" I ask and Ford and Guthrie laugh.

"I'm married," she says.

"So. Did you spend the night with Adam before you knew him? And _where_ did you spend the night? You never came over to our house before. Did Adam spend the night with you in your trailer? Did...,"

Adam says, "that's enough questions Heidi."

"But she didn't answer any of them," I tell him.

"That's ok," he says. "You're starting to talk about stuff you don't need to know the answers to."

I'm quiet for a while and I look out the window. We're not even to Murphys yet. I turn around and see headlights behind us. That must be our truck. I wonder..., I stand up so I can talk in Adam's ear. "How's Brian going to get home?"

"He'll find a way. Sit down."

Hannah looks at me when he says that so I look away as I sit down. But then I think of a very important question so I stand up again.

"Hannah? Are there different kinds of boys? You know, like there are different kinds of girls?"

"Yes." She pushes me gently so I sit back down.

"What kind is Brian?" I ask.

"What kind do you think?" Guthrie asks. "He's spending the night with a girl he doesn't know. He doesn't even remember her name."

"That's so sad," Hannah says as she shakes her head.

"What is?" I ask.

"He doesn't know her name. You should _always_ know the name of the person you're spending the night with. You should also know more about the girl...,"

"Or _boy_," Guthrie says as he leans over and pokes me and smiles. When I stick my tongue out at him he laughs and so do I.

Hannah starts again. "You should know a person before you spend the night with them."

"Then why is Brian spending the night?" I ask. "Why doesn't he want to know her first?"

"Good question," Adam says, only he's not talking to anyone. I think he's talking to himself.

"That's a whole other discussion that will probably have to wait 'till later," Hannah says. "Brian spending the night has to do with a lot of things. He was upset about seeing Laura on a date, he was drinking, his self esteem was very low tonight, and..,"

I sigh and look out the window while she keeps talking. I don't understand what she's talking about. Ford, Guthrie and Adam must understand because they're listening and talking to her. I'm tired now. I lean against the side of the jeep and close my eyes. I hope I fall asleep soon, that will make the time go by faster.

* * *

><p>The smell of bacon wakes me up in the morning. I sit up and stretch while I look at my clock. 7:00. I'm still wearing my clothes from yesterday. Someone must've put me in bed. My boots are off my feet and standing together by the door. I know someone took <em>those<em> off because I would never stand them up neatly like that. I always kick my shoes off, and wherever they land, is where they stay.

I get up and walk out into the hallway. I don't see anyone in the living room, but I hear voices coming from the kitchen. I wonder if Brian's home!

I run down the stairs as fast as I can and through the living room. I almost run into Daniel.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" He says and he laughs.

I push by him and run into the kitchen and look around. "Brian?"

"Nope." Adam says as he flips a pancake over, "he's not home yet."

I slump down in a chair and sigh. I really thought he'd be home by now.

"Cheer up," Daniel says, "I'm sure he'll be home soon."

Evan laughs and says, "I don't know, I bet he's got one huge hangover right now."

Ford and Daniel laugh at that too and Adam says, "alright that's enough. Hurry and eat so you can get your chores started. Heidi, do you want one pancake, or two to start?"

"None," I say grumpily.

"Well, you're going to have at least one."

"Where's Hannah?" I ask.

"Crane took her into town. She's working the breakfast and lunch shift today."

"Is Crane getting more chicken feed?" Daniel asks. "We're getting low."

"Yeah," Adam says. "He's also...,"

"Wait," I interrupt, "Crane's going to the feed store?"

"Yes. Why?" Adam asks.

I look at Ford and his eyes are big, probably just like mine. He says, "um Adam? There's something we need to talk about."

"Can it wait until this afternoon?" Adam asks as he brings a pancake over and puts it on my plate. "I need you guys to do the dishes so I can get out to the herd and check on it. Mr. Wilson is expecting us before nine, so I've got to get out there."

"We're going to the Wilson's?" I ask.

"'You're' not," Adam says. "Crane, Guthrie, Daniel and I have to help Mr. Wilson..,"

"Wait, Guthrie?" I ask. "Why is Guthrie going?" I look at him and he looks sad.

"He's got to pay for the window he broke," Adam says. "He's going to do some odd jobs around Mr. Wilson's ranch while the rest of us help Mr. Wilson fix his fence."

"Oh." Now I really don't feel like eating. I feel bad for Guthrie. "But...," I feel like telling the truth but then I think about Crane going to the feed store so I stop talking.

"What?" Adam asks. "Do you have something you need to tell me?"

I look at Guthrie and he shakes his head a tiny bit and mouthes the word, "no."

"No," I say quietly to Adam. "I guess not."

"Are you sure?" He asks, "because it looks like something's bothering you."

I stare at him and he stares at me. I think he knows Guthrie didn't break the window. His eyes look disappointed, or..., concerned I think. I feel bad, but I don't know what to say, so I say, "but me and Guthrie are supposed to look for buried treasure today."

"Not today," Adam says.

"What am _I_ doing today?" I ask.

Adam walks to the back door slowly and opens it. "Unless you have something to tell me, you're doing your chores today." He waits for me to say something and when I don't, he walks outside, but then comes back in. "And don't you two think I've forgotten about the mechanical bull, _or_," he looks right at me now, "barging into someone's home, _and_ I think we need a reminder talk about what you're supposed to do when Hannah tells you to do something. It seems you've forgotten." I glare at him. "We'll talk tonight," he says, and _then_ he goes outside and the door closes behind him.

I don't think I'm going to like this day. It sounds like I'm already in trouble and Adam doesn't know about the feed store yet.

Daniel gets up and says, "Evan, Ford, you wash the dishes with Heidi. I'm going out to the barn. Are you ready Guthrie?"

Guthrie sighs and says, "I guess so."

He stands up and carries his dishes to the sink. As he walks by I whisper, "sorry."

"It's ok," he says. "I hope I get all the jobs done today, or I have to go back tomorrow."

I feel bad. But now I know what I'm going to do today. I'm going to find those diamonds and I'm not coming home until I've found them.

* * *

><p>When I'm done with my chores Brian still isn't home. I decide to get Lucy saddled up and ready to go. From the barn I can hear my brothers getting ready to leave for Mr. Wilson's ranch so I go to the barn door to watch.<p>

Crane is putting some tools in the back of the truck and Guthrie climbs in back with Daniel. Adam is talking to Ford and Evan and he must be talking about me because they all three look over at me for a second. He must be telling them to keep an eye on me. I bet Brian was supposed to watch me today, because I know Evan has rodeo school today.

After they drive off I start to go back inside the barn but I stop when I see a white truck driving towards our house. That 'has' to be Brian because it looks like Sandy's truck. I run over to see.

It _is_ Brian. I watch him lean over and kiss Sandy on the lips before he gets out. That makes me mad. The truck drives off and as soon as I catch up to Brian him I follow along side of him as he walks to the house.

"Why'd you kiss her?" I ask him.

"Because I wanted to."

"Why? Do you like her?"

"I don't know..,"

"You don't know?! Why'd you kiss her then?! You should only kiss someone you like! Like Laura."

"Would you stop Heidi. Quit bringing up Laura. Laura looked like she was perfectly happy last night with that other guy."

"No she wasn't. She didn't even kiss him last night," I tell him.

He stops walking and looks down at me. "What do you mean?"

"He wanted to kiss her, but she said she needed to think about things."

He starts walking again and takes the porch steps two at a time. "That doesn't mean anything," he says.

I have to run up the steps to keep up with him. "Yes it does! It means she has to think about you!"

"No it doesn't. That could mean anything."

"Brian, don't you like her?"

He runs upstairs and I follow him. "Leave me alone Heidi."

He goes into the bathroom and slams the door shut so I knock on it. "Brian! Talk to me!" He doesn't say anything so I bang on the door. "Brian!"

The door opens fast and I almost knock on Brian. "What?!" He yells. "What do you want?!"

"Why did you spend the night at that girl's house?!" He slams the door shut again. "Brian!" I yell.

"Go away!" He yells back. I hear the shower faucet being turned on so I sit down on the floor and lean against the bathroom door.

"Why are you taking a shower when you're just gonna go outside and get dirty?" I yell. He either ignores me or he doesn't hear me so I sit quietly and wait for him to come out.

* * *

><p>When the bathroom door opens I stand up and follow Brian down to the boys' room. He's got a towel wrapped around his middle and his hair is wet. He throws his clothes on the floor in the bedroom and closes the door. I wait quietly until he's dressed and when he comes out I follow him down the stairs.<p>

"Brian, why did you leave with that girl last night?" I ask him.

"Because I wanted to."

"Why were you in her bed? Did you sleep with her? Did you have..,"

Brian stops at the bottom of the stairs and turns around to look at me. He looks angry. "This is none of your business."

"But I was scared last night. You were really drunk and so was she. You could've gotten in an accident."

"Well, we didn't," he says.

"But what if you did?"

He sighs and doesn't look as angry. "I'm sorry Heidi. I'm sorry you..,"

"Brian, don't you like Laura?"

He sighs. "Yes, but there's...,"

"Then don't go out with other girls!"

"You don't understand Heidi." He's starting to look angry again. "I like Laura, but I also...,"

"You didn't even know that girl! Do you remember what her name is? Because you couldn't remember what it was last night!"

"Yes I know what her name is!"

I put my hands on my hips and glare at him. "Then what is it?!"

"It's Mandy."

"Nope." I shake my head at him and he looks pretty mad.

"Fine! It's Candy or Andy, or..,"

"It's Sandy!" I yell. "You shouldn't go out with a girl if you can't remember her name! Hannah even said so!"

He glares at me now, "why don't you go outside and play now and leave me alone."

"Hannah says you're one of those boys who spends the night with girls he doesn't know. She said...,"

"Stop telling me what Hannah said! This is none of your business. I don't want to talk about this anymore with you!"

"Fine!" I yell while I glare back at him. "I'll never talk to you again!" I squeeze by him and walk to the door.

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"I'm not talking to you!" I remind him.

"You just did."

I think for a little bit while a stand by the door glaring at him. "Where are you going to be working today?" I ask him.

"The north pasture."

Good. "I'm riding Lucy to the pond and then to the river with Guthrie!" Let's see what he has to say about that. He doesn't know Guthrie's not home. Ford and Evan aren't around right now either. "_Now_ I'm not talking to you ever again!" I open the front door and run down the porch steps and out to the barn.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it's taken so long for me to post the next chapter. I got so engrossed in writing it that I didn't realize how long it was. (14,000+ words) Anyways, fanfiction wouldn't let me post it like that (I don't know why, I've writen chapters that long before) so I had to break it up into two chapters. I hope nothing got lost with my cut and paste job, and I hope you enjoy reading it just as much as I did writing it...**

**Thanks for reading... (And reviewing!)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8 (part 1)<p>

I'm pretty sure I can remember the way to the mine. I guide Lucy across the street and look for the pathway on the other side. Once I find it I know all I have to do is stay on it and I should be fine.

"You remember the way, don't you Lucy?" I pet the side of her neck. "Lucy, why do you think Brian is being such a jerk? Why did he leave the restaurant with that other girl when he likes Laura? That doesn't make any sense to me. I wonder if Laura likes Brian as much as he likes her. Is that why she didn't kiss her date last night?" I think about that for a minute. Was she thinking about Brian?

"Lucy, I need to think of a way to get Brian and Laura together. I need to come up with a plan. It has to be a good plan though, not like the plan I thought of to get Crane and his girlfriend, Isabella, together. That was a bad plan. Maybe Guthrie will help me think of something. Brian just needs some help getting together with Laura."

Maybe I could get Hannah to invite Laura over for dinner. Then maybe they could spend some time alone on the ranch. "I know, Lucy! If Hannah invites Laura to dinner, after we eat I could show her the baby calf Ford and Cleo are raising. Then I could leave and they could be alone in the barn! It's perfect! Then they could kiss each other and be boyfriend and girlfriend like Crane and Isabella!"

Lucy whinnies. I think she understands me. I pat her shoulder and say, "it'll work out, you'll see!"

I look around me. I think I'm almost to the mine. This area looks familiar. I click my tongue and press my heals into Lucy's sides to get her to go a little faster. The sooner I get to the mine, the sooner I can look for the diamonds. The sooner I find the diamonds, the sooner I can go home and show them to my brothers. "They're going to be so happy, Lucy!" Lucy picks up her pace and I lead her on the path to the mine.

* * *

><p>As soon as I make it to the mine I slide off Lucy and tie her to a tree. Kenny and John run up to me.<p>

"Where's Guthrie?" Kenny asks.

"He's working on the Miller's ranch." I feel sad when I say that, but I don't feel like telling the boys what happened last night. "We have to find the diamonds today. We just have to!"

"We're going to look in the mine," John says. "Come on. Get your flashlight and shovel!"

Kenny and John run to the mine and I stare at them as I watch them go. The mine? What about the ghost? I'm scared but I take my backpack off Lucy and prop it up next to a tree. I've got to find those diamonds for Guthrie so I'd better get my stuff out.

Once I have my flashlight and shovel I walk over to the mine. Kenny and John are already inside and I can hear their voices. I stop at the mine entrance and take a deep breath before I turn on my flashlight and walk inside. Kenny and John are just a few feet in.

"Shine your flashlight around and help us look for an X," John says.

I shine my light around the mine just like the boys are and look for an X.

"Come on! Let's go further back," Kenny yells and he starts walking further into the mine. John follows and I hesitate for a second. I hope we don't see a ghost! I follow the boys as we walk further into the mine.

* * *

><p>After a while I forget about the ghost and concentrate on looking for an X. I shine my light around and drag my hand along the wall. I wonder how long we've been in here. We've dug in a few places, but so far we haven't found the diamonds. We haven't found anything.<p>

"Heidi, help us dig over here," John says.

The boys are down on the ground on their knees and they're digging at the ground with their shovels.

"The ground's too hard," Kenny says and he lifts his shovel up over the ground and brings it down hard on the floor of the mine. The shovel doesn't break into the ground. "We need a pickax!"

I sit down on my knees next to them and try to dig my shovel into the dirt. "This feels like rocks!"

"I know," Kenny says, "but it's not. Maybe if we all pound on the ground with our shovels we can break it. I'll be like a pickax."

The three of us take turns hitting the ground with the tips of our shovels. When it's my turn I pound my shovel into the ground as hard as I can. It feels like the shovel is going to break and nothing happens to the ground. There's not even a little tiny dent. After what's probably been five minutes, our shovels finally start to break into the ground.

"Finally!" Kenny says. "Hit the ground harder!"

Little tiny rocks fly up when John's shovel hits the ground. "I'm telling you, I think this is pure rock."

When it's my turn to hit the ground I hit it so hard my shovel's wooden handle starts wobbling where it meets the spade of the shovel. "I think you're right." I watch Kenny hit the ground again and I think of something very interesting. "Why are we digging here?" I ask.

"We're looking for the diamonds," Kenny says. He sounds annoyed.

John hits the ground with his shovel and I ask again, "why here? Why not somewhere else inside the mine. Did you find an X?"

"No," John says. "We just figured this was a good spot."

"But if _we_ can't dig it up," I bring my shovel up high and pound it into the ground, "how did Jeb bury it here?" My shovel wobbles again when it hits the ground.

The boys stare at the spot we've been trying to dig at. "Good question," John says. "I guess we should dig where the ground is softer."

"Maybe Jeb put a big rock on top of his diamonds after he buried them," Kenny says. "Let's see if we can break this some more before we dig somewhere else." John shrugs his shoulders and pounds his shovel into the ground.

"I guess he could've done that," John says.

I bring my shovel up again and pound it down. There's a loud cracking sound and then I feel a stinging pain in my hand. "Ow!" I let go of my shovel and it drops to the ground.

"Are you ok Heidi?" John asks. He shines his flashlight on me.

I look down at my hand. My shovel broke and the handle is splintered off into three pieces. One of the pieces is stuck into my hand like a big splinter. It hurts and it's bleeding. "Ow, ow, ow, ow ow!" I don't cry even though it hurts a lot. I'm pretty tough when it comes to getting scrapes and bruises. Usually I just wipe whatever blood is dripping from my cut on my shirt. This is a huge splinter though, I guess it's more like a small stick stuck in the palm of my hand instead of a splinter.

"That looks bad," Kenny says.

"Do you want me to pull it out?" John asks.

"No, I'll do it." There's no way I'm letting anyone touch this piece of wood besides me. It's gonna hurt to pull it out and I want to be able to stop pulling it out if it hurts too much. I take a deep breath and pull on the splinter a little. It hurts, but I have to pull it out. I pull even more slowly because I don't want it to break off in my skin. It hurts so bad and I can't take the pain anymore, so I yank on the splinter and pull it out as fast as I can and then I hold my breath and shake my hand until the pain starts to go away.

"Let me look at it," John says. I hold my hand out and he shines his flashlight on it. "It looks like there might be a few splinters left."

I can see my hand much better with the flashlight shining on it, and he's right. There _are_ a few more splinters and they sting.

"I can help you take them out," John says.

"No, I'll just take them out when I get home."

"Are you sure? It won't hurt as much if you take them out."

Kenny says, "she's tough. She can handle the pain." He starts hitting at the ground again with his shovel.

My hand does hurt and I feel like crying, but I don't want to cry in front of the boys. I wish Guthrie was here.

"Are you ok Heidi?" John asks.

I look at him and nod my head.

"We can go outside and clean your hand in the stream or with the water from my canteen," he suggests.

"No. I'm fine," I lie. I want to go home now. "How long do you think we've been in here for?" I ask.

"I don't know. Hey Kenny? What time is it?"

Kenny shines a light on his watch. "3:30."

John says, "you want to go home now, don't you?"

I nod my head.

"I'll walk you out to Lucy," he says.

"But what about the diamonds?" I ask. "I really need them."

"We'll keep looking for them for a little while longer. If we find them we'll call you."

"Ok." I start to wipe my hand on my shirt but stop because it hurts. I suck my breath in.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" John says.

I nod my head while I look down at my hand. Stupid shovel! I kick at the ground where my shovel is laying on the ground broken in half. I guess I should pick it up and take it home. My brothers can probably fix it with some duct tape. Not that we don't have a hundred other small shovels like this, I don't think I should leave it here. I reach down to pick it up.

John reaches down too and our heads bump. "Ow!" We both say at the same time. We look at each other and rub our heads with our hands and laugh.

"I'll carry your shovel for you," John says. "You only have one good hand and you need that for your flashlight."

John bends down and picks up my shovel. "I'll be back," he tells Kenny.

"Wait, where are you going?" Kenny asks. He puts his shovel down and looks up at John.

"Heidi's going home. I'm walking her out to her horse."

"I'll come too," Kenny says quickly. He stands up quickly too. I think Kenny might be scared. I don't blame him. There's no way I'd stay inside this mine all by myself.

The three of us walk towards the entrance to the mine.

"Are you coming back tomorrow?" John asks me. "I mean, if we don't find the diamonds today."

"I guess so."

"Make sure Guthrie comes too," Kenny says.

"If you don't find the diamonds today, I bet he can't come," I tell him.

"Why?" Kenny asks, but before I can answer he says, "if we find the diamonds today, none of us will have to come back tomorrow."

"That's true," John says. He sounds a little disappointed and I wonder why.

"How much do you think the diamonds are worth?" Kenny asks.

"I don't know," John says. "I think...,"

I follow behind the boys and listen to them talk about what they're going to do with all the money we're going to get from the diamonds. Right now, I don't care how much it is, just as long as I can pay off the broken window and the mess from the feed store. Well, some new cowgirl boots would be nice. All of a sudden I run right into John's back. I didn't realize he'd stopped walking.

"Get down!" Kenny whispers.

I crouch down and try to see above and around the boys to see if I can see why we stopped. We're just a few feet away from the entrance. Why would we stop here?

"Is it a bear?" I ask.

"Sh! No," Kenny whispers. "Just be quiet!"

I'm quiet and I don't hear anything. I'm about ready to say something when I hear a man yell, "you dang kids! I know you're around here somewhere!" I hear someone walking around outside and then I hear talking again. "I know what you're up to. You're trying to steal my diamonds. Well, ain't nobody but me, good old Jeb, that's gonna find 'em."

I gasp when I hear him say Jeb. "Is he a ghost?" I ask.

"Sh, no," John says. "He's just some drunk old man wandering around out there."

"Who is he? Is this his mine? Are we trespassing?" I ask.

"Sh," Kenny says, "he's talking again."

I listen and sure enough the man is talking again. I guess he's talking to himself.

"I'll show those kids! Maybe if I untie the little buggers horse that'll teach whoever it is to go away."

"Lucy!" I yell and I stand up.

"Who's there?!" The man yells. I can see him now. He's short and has a long gray mustache. He's wearing a cowboy hat and his shirt and pants look real dirty. Just like his boots. He's holding a bottle of something in his hand and he takes a drink from it. "Come out!" He yells. "I know you're in there!"

"He can't hurt Lucy!" I tell John and Kenny.

"He won't," Kenny says, "I'll make sure of that!"

"How?" I ask. I'm about ready to cry. If the man unites Lucy she'll get lost. I don't think she can find her way home from here.

"Come on," John says. He picks up a rock the size of a softball and says, "Kenny you distract him with this rock. Heidi," he takes my hand, "we're going to run to Lucy and I'll help you get on her. Ready?"

I nod my head and Kenny takes the rock from John and we inch our way to the entrance of the mine. Kenny throws the rock on the left side of the mine into the bushes. The old man looks over there and starts to walk towards the bush.

"I've got you now!" He yells.

"Run!" John says.

I take off out of the mine with John. He's still holding my hand and we race towards Lucy. I untie her while John puts my pack on her back and straps it on. He holds his hands out with his fingers laced together so he can give me a boost. I put my foot in and he lifts me up and I grab Lucy's saddle and pull myself up so I'm sitting. "Thanks," I tell John.

"I got you now!" The old man yells. "I'm coming for you!"

"Go!" John yells and he slaps Lucy's rump.

Lucy takes off and I hear the old man yell, "I'm coming for you! I know where you live! I'm going to take back my diamonds that I know you stole!"

I cry now. I can't hear his voice anymore because I'm too far away from him now. I turn and look behind me just to make sure. Yes, I can't see him anymore. Who was that man? And what did he mean when he said he was going to take back his diamonds? And how does he know where I live?

* * *

><p>When I get to our driveway I don't even care if anyone's around to see me coming from the street, I'm too scared to care. I hope that old man isn't following me. I rode Lucy hard the whole way home. She's tired, I can tell. I feel bad for her, but I wanted to get home as quick as possible. I look behind me like I've been doing the whole way home and I don't see the old man. I don't know if he has a horse or if he's following on foot. The good thing is, I don't see him or hear him.<p>

I look around our ranch now and I don't see any of my brothers either, which is good. I wonder if Guthrie's home. I can't wait to tell him what happened.

I look down at my hand. It hurts so much and I can see three pretty good sized splinters in the palm of my hand. I hope I can pull them out by myself. Usually my brothers pull them out for me if they're big ones, and these ones are.

I make it to the barn without being spotted by anyone. The truck and the jeep are here so everyone must be home. I bet they're out with the herd. I slide off Lucy and lead her into the barn so I can take her saddle off in there. I hear voices so I look around.

"Cleo!" I yell and I run over to where Ford and Cleo are standing to give her a hug. I almost knock her down.

She laughs and says, "hi Heidi."

"I'm so glad you're back!" I tell her. "I thought you and Ford were gonna break up, and..., wait, you didn't break up did you?"

Both Ford and Cleo's cheeks are turning pink and Cleo says, "no, we didn't break up."

"Heidi," Ford starts to say something to me, but I interrupt him.

"Good! I felt so bad that Ford told those boys he took you to the bases when he really didn't take you there. Those boys were teasing Ford, and then when he punched one of them...," I look at Ford now. "Ford, I didn't find the treasure today. I'm sorry."

"That's ok. Heidi..,"

I interrupt him. "Are you guys feeding Suzy?"

"Yes," Cleo says. "I was just about ready to give her a bottle."

"Can I help? I know how to hold it the right way."

"Sure," Cleo says.

"Heidi, I need to talk to you," Ford says.

I follow Cleo over to Suzy, but Ford pulls me back.

"Where have you been?" He asks.

I stare at him. "What?"

"Where have you been?"

"Why?"

"Brian's looking for you."

I sigh and then glare at him a little bit. "Why?"

"When the guys came home from the Millers, Guthrie asked Brian where you were. Brian said he thought he was with you..,"

Aw man! I forgot about that. Oh well. I'll just stay away from Brian. Besides, I'm not talking to him anyway.

"Heidi, are you listening to me?" Ford asks. I stare up at him and he asks, "where were you?"

"Where did Brian look for me?" I ask.

"I don't know. I think the river or the pond. Why? Where were you?"

"One of those places. Which ever one he didn't look for me at." I turn around to walk away so I can take Lucy's saddle off.

"Heidi, I told Adam what happened at the feed store."

I spin around fast. "Why?! Why'd you do that?! I told you to wait! I told you I'd find the treasure!" I feel like crying!

Cleo says, "I'll start getting Suzy's bottle ready." She walks away and I'm not sure where she's going because it looks like they already got the bottle ready.

Ford sits down on a hay bale. "I had to tell him," Ford says. "A hundred dollars is a lot of money, and now that there's a broken window to pay for also, he needs to know."

"Was he mad?" I sit down next to him.

Ford doesn't answer at first.

"I told you!"

"He wasn't mad, he was..,"

"Disappointed! I told you!" I yell. "That's worse than being mad!"

"Heidi, he was disappointed we didn't tell him when it happened. He...,"

"You weren't supposed to tell!"

"Heidi, what happened at the store was an accident," Ford starts to say.

"Since when does Adam think fighting is an _accident_?!" I stand up.

"What happened to your hand?" Ford asks.

"What?" I look down at my hand and then put it behind my back. "Nothing!"

I start to stomp off and Ford says, "what about Lucy? You forgot to take her saddle off. And why is she so tired?"

"I don't know! I'll take her saddle off later!" I can't help Lucy right now with one hand, I have to get these stupid splinters out.

"Heidi, come back and I'll help you," he says.

"No! I'm mad at you! You weren't supposed to tell!" I yell and I stomp off towards the house.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong?" Evan asks as I pass him coming down on my way up the porch steps.<p>

"Nothing! So just stay out of my way!"

"Whoa," he says, "why are you so angry?"

"None of your business!" I stomp to the front door and open it all the way. When I walk inside I look at everyone in the living room and they're all staring at me. "What?!" I yell. "I'm mad, so just leave me alone!" I slam the door shut and stomp over to the stairs.

Brian asks, "where have you been?"

I stop stomping and look at him. "Out on the ranch!"

I start to stomp up the stairs and Brian yells, "hey! I'm talking to you!"

I keep stomping up. "Well, I'm not talking to you! Remember?! I'm mad at you!" I stop on the middle stair to glare at him. "You..., you big..., big..., bad boyfriend! You're a big, bad boyfriend! You're a bad boyfriend who treats ladies like horses!" Then I finish stomping upstairs straight to the bathroom where I go inside and slam the door behind me.

* * *

><p>Once the bathroom door is closed I start digging at my splinters. These are gonna be hard to take out. I have to make sure they don't break inside my skin too. I pull at one and it doesn't budge. It hurts, and it's not going to come out easy so I try digging out the smallest one.<p>

There's a knock on the door and Adam says, "Heidi?"

"Go away!"

"Heidi, what's wrong?"

"Nothing! Go away!"

"Would you come out here please?"

"No!"

"I just want to talk to you," Adam says.

"I'm going to the bathroom!"

"Ok, I'll wait."

"No! It's gonna take me a long time, so just go away!" I slide the small splinter out. Good, one out, two more to go.

"I can hear you right here next to the door," Adam says.

I don't say anything now. I pick at my splinters some more. I'm getting frustrated now. I'm mad and these stupid splinters hurt and they're not coming out! I want to get them out by myself, but it's too hard for me. I lean my back against the door and slide down to the floor. I feel like crying. I'm mad at Ford and Brian and these dumb splinters. Tears start to form in my eyes.

"Heidi? What's wrong?" Adam asks through the door.

"I can't do it." I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand.

"You can't do what?" Adam asks. He turns the handle on the door and pushes gently. I move with the door for a tiny bit and then I scoot out of the way and sit in front of the sink. "What are you doing down there?" Adam asks.

I keep my head down and wipe my eyes with my hand again. Adam sits down on the floor too.

"What's the matter?"

I can't say anything. I'm tired now. Tired of everything. I'm tired of keeping the mine and the diamonds a secret, I'm tired of feeling mad at Brian and now Ford, and I'm tired of keeping secrets about the feed store and the broken car window. All I can do is cry.

"What's wrong?" Adam puts his hand on my shoulder and rubs it a little. "Heidi? Talk to me."

I look up at him and then hold out my hand. "I can't do it. It hurts and I can't take them out."

Adam takes my hand and holds it up to get a better look. "Those are some long splinters."

"I got the small one out, but I can't get the other ones out. I can't do it!"

"I can. I just need to get a pair of tweezers." He stands up and opens up the medicine cabinet. When he finds the tweezers he sits down on the floor again and takes my hand. "How'd you get these?" He asks as he pinches a splinter with the tweezers and tugs gently.

"The shovel broke." I suck my breath in because what he's doing hurts.

"One of the trowels?"

"Yes. I was digging with it and it broke." I start to yank my hand away but he holds onto it tightly.

"You've been digging a lot lately, haven't you?"

"Yes. Guthrie and I are looking for buried treasure." Adam pulls the splinter all the way out now. "Ow, that stings!"

"I'm sorry. It's out now. I just have to get the other one out. Why were you so angry a few minutes ago?"

I think he's trying to distract me from what he's doing and that's why he's asking all these questions. "I was mad at Ford," I tell Adam quietly. "He wasn't supposed to tell you what happened at Mr. Smith's feed store."

"Oh."

I cry and say, "I wanted to pay for it by myself. I wanted to find the treasure and pay Mr. Smith all by myself."

"But did you want to pay for it by yourself because you didn't want me to know about it?" Adam asks. He stops pulling at my splinter and lifts my chin up with his hand.

I nod my head and new tears form in my eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to be disappointed about all the money I costed us. I know we can't afford a hundred dollars."

"No, we can't. But we'll find a way, we always do." He lets go of my chin. "Heidi, you have to tell me when things like what happened at the feed store happen. I'm disappointed you kept that from me."

"See! That's why I didn't want to tell you! Why can't you just be mad at me and yell at me so I can yell back?"

Adam puts his hands on the sides of my cheeks and wipes the tears under my eyes away with his thumbs. He lifts my head up so I'm looking into his eyes. "Because I don't want to yell at you right now. What happened was an accident. At least that's what it sounded like from what Ford told me."

"That teenager pushed me right into the shelf! There was feed and seeds everywhere!"

Adam smiles and says, "I heard." Then he looks down at my hand with my splinter in it and picks it up. He starts to tug at it with the tweezers."

"Adam?" I say quietly.

"Yes?" Adam's tugging at the splinter pretty good now and I try to pull my hand away. "Hold still, I don't want to break it."

"Adam, I have something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"_I_ broke the truck window last night, not Guthrie."

Adam puts my hand down and looks at me. "I kind of figured you did."

"You did?"

"Yes."

I stare at his face to see if he's mad. All his face looks like is disappointed. "How'd you know?" I ask.

"Throwing a rock sounds like something _you'd_ do, not Guthrie," Adam says and he picks up my hand again. "What happened?"

I sigh. "I was mad at Brian so I threw a rock. I didn't think. I was mad, I picked up a rock and threw it! As soon as I saw it fly through the air I wished I hadn't thrown it."

"Good. Now we just have to get you to think about that _before_ you throw the rock next time." Adam pulls the last splinter out and I sigh. Then I start to cry quietly.

"Adam, I'm so mad at Brian."

"I know."

"Why does he have to go out with all those girls? Why can't he just go out with Laura?" I sit up on my knees and wrap my arm around Adam's neck and he hugs me.

"I don't know."

"You should tell him to stop it."

"I can't do that Heidi."

"Why not?"

"Because Brian's an adult. He makes his own choices."

"Well he's making wrong ones."

Adam hugs me tighter. "It sounds like you're making some wrong ones too." He lets go and I sit back on my knees so I can look at him. "Tell me about the mechanical bull last night," he says.

"Well..., we didn't know we weren't supposed to ride it," Adam gives me a funny look when I say that. "It's true. Those two boys said we could. The boy said his dad wouldn't care because he lets him ride it all the time. We just had to make sure no one was watching and..,"

"Heidi, if you have to make sure no one's watching, that's a pretty good clue you're not supposed to ride it."

I think about that. I guess that makes sense.

"Do you know how dangerous that was?" Adam asks.

"_You_ ride the mechanical bull. Isn't it dangerous for you too?"

"I'm an adult. Those machines are made for adults, not kids. You're so light that thing could've thrown you clear out of the pen."

"It didn't."

"It could have. What you did was wrong. It was dangerous and you knew you weren't supposed to do it. Right?"

I sigh and nod my head while I look into Adam's eyes. "Am I in trouble?"

"We're not done talking yet. Tell me what's going on with you and Hannah."

I groan and lean back against the cabinet. "Adam, this is too much. I don't want to talk anymore."

"Ok. I wanted to talk to you with Hannah anyways. We'll talk about that later." He stands up and says, "let's go see if Hannah needs help with dinner."

"We're not gonna talk to her _now_ are we?" I stand up too.

"No, we'll talk after dinner." We walk out into the hallway and Adam asks, "where'd you go today?"

That's something I don't want to talk about either. "I don't know. I was just on the ranch."

We walk downstairs and Adam says, "I know that. Where on the ranch? Where are you digging for buried treasure?"

Great, now I have to lie again. I know! "It's a secret. Guthrie and I don't want anyone to know where we're digging." That reminds of that old man. "Adam, do you know an old man named Jeb?"

"Jeb? No, I don't think so. Why?"

That must mean he's a ghost! "Are you sure? He's little and old and has a long gray beard."

"No." We walk into the kitchen now and Adam asks Hannah if she needs any help.

"Sure, you can peel the potatoes."

Guthrie's sitting at the table with a glass of water in his hand. I walk over to him to whisper in his ear. "I need to tell you something. It's really important."

Guthrie gets up and we walk to the back door.

"Hey you two," Hannah says. "Get back here. You can help peel potatoes too."

"Can I just talk to Guthrie for _one_ minute?"

Hannah smiles and says, "one minute, and then I want you back in here peeling potatoes."

"Ok." I open the back door and pull Guthrie outside with me. As soon as the door shuts I say, "I saw a ghost today."

"What?"

"I saw Jeb's ghost!"

"There's no such thing. Why...,"

"Yes there is! I saw him! Kenny and John saw him too! He's a little old man with a long gray beard and dirty clothes!"

"Kenny and John saw him too?"

"Yes! Guthrie, Jeb was mad. He said he knew we were trying to steal his diamonds. He thinks we stole them. He said he's gonna steal them back. Guthrie, he knows where we live!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"When I left he said he knew who we were and he knew where we lived." I look at Guthrie's face to see what he's thinking. "What are we going to do? He's coming here to take back his diamonds and I don't have them."

"I don't know what to do. Let me think about it. I'll come up with a plan."

Brian is walking across the backyard towards us and when he gets to the steps he says to me, "I want to talk to you."

"Well you can't now! I'm busy!" I turn around and push the back door open quickly. "I have to peel potatoes for Hannah!" I yell as I walk inside.

Brian must've pushed past Guthrie because he's right behind me now. "Hannah do you mind if I borrow Heidi for a little bit?"

I run to the sink and stand on the other side of Adam. Hannah says, "sure. I've got two other potato peelers."

"I don't want to talk to you," I tell Brian. I look up at Adam. "Please don't make me talk to him."

"I think it would be a good idea," Adam says.

"Well _I_ don't! If you think it's such a good idea, _you_ go talk to him!" I pick up a potato.

Adam puts his hand over mine and says in his serious voice, "go talk to him."

"Fine! But I don't _want_ to!" I slam the potato down on the counter and stomp over to the back door.


	9. Chapter 9

**Fanfiction wants this to be Chapter 9, but really it's Chapter 8 (part 2) :)**

* * *

><p>Brian follows me to the bottom of the back porch steps and we both sit down on the bottom step. I find a long stick on the ground so I pick it up and poke the ground with it.<p>

"Where did you go today?" He asks.

I don't want to answer that. At least not truthfully, so I say nothing. I see a small rock in the ground so I start poking at it.

"I asked you a question," Brian says. "Where'd you go today?"

"I went looking for treasure."

"Where?"

"On the ranch."

"I know that." Brian sounds annoyed now. "_Where_ on the ranch? I looked for you."

"Where?"

"Where what?"

"_Where'd_ you look for me?" I break the little rock free and look for another one to dig out.

"Why don't you tell me where you were first, and _then_ I'll tell you where I looked," he says.

"No, I don't like that idea. You tell me where you looked and _then_ I'll tell you where I was."

"It doesn't work that way, so start talking. And put that stick down."

I ignore him and keep poking at the little rock. I guess he doesn't like that because he grabs the stick out of my hand and throws it to the side.

"Hey!" I yell as I stand up. "I was playing with that!"

"I know! I want you to talk to me and _not_ play with a stick!" When I start to go get the stick he holds me back and yells, "sit down!"

"Adam lets me play with a stick when he's talking to me."

"Well, I'm not Adam!"

"I know! You're Brian! Mean old Brian!"

He sighs and turns me so I'm facing him. "Why am I mean?" He asks me.

"You're mean to girls! You were mean to Laura...,"

"How so?" He asks.

"You went home with another girl!"

"_She_ went home with another guy!" He stares right into my eyes when he says that. He doesn't look angry though. I think he looks..., hurt.

"But maybe she didn't want to go with him," I tell him.

"She went out with him," he reminds me.

"Because they're old friends."

"Heidi, they used to date."

"_Used_ to!"

"What do you want Heidi? What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to go out with Laura."

"So do I!"

"Then why'd you leave with that other girl last night?"

"I don't know. I'd been drinking."

"Are you going to go out with _that_ girl now?" I hope he says no. There's only one girl I want Brian to go out with, and that's Laura.

"No...,"

"Why not! Why do you only go out with some girls once?!"

"She has a boyfriend!"

"What?" That confuses me. "Why did she bring you to her house if she has a boyfriend?"

"She was drinking too. Sometimes people do stuff they normally wouldn't do when they drink."

"You mean when they get _drunk_," I tell him. I'm still looking into his eyes and they look sad. "Brian, why can't you just go out with Laura and forget about other girls?"

"Sometimes things don't work out like you want them to."

"But, if you like Laura, and she likes _you_, why don't you just go out with each other?"

"It's not that easy."

"It seems easy to me."

Brian smiles and says, "because you're ten." I don't smile back. At least not yet. Brian says, "please don't be mad at me anymore."

"Promise me you'll only go out with Laura."

"Heidi, I can't promise that."

"Then promise you won't get drunk and go home with other girls." When he's quiet I say, "let me guess, you can't promise that either."

"No. I _can_ promise I'll continue to go _out_ with girls." He smiles.

"Brian!" I fall towards him and hug him and he hugs me back.

"Now tell me where you went today," he says.

We stop hugging and I look into his eyes. "It's a secret."

"What's so secret about it?"

"Guthrie and I don't want you guys to know where we're digging."

"Why did you tell me you were with Guthrie when he wasn't home?"

I don't want to answer that, but he's staring at me with his serious looking eyes so I say, "because I knew you wouldn't let me go anywhere by myself."

"You're right about that. We don't want you going anywhere by yourself."

"But I'm ten, it's not like I'm six."

"No, you're not six, but you're _only_ ten, and you're still too young to go off on your own. The ranch can be dangerous."

That reminds me about the old man I saw today. "Brian, do you know anyone named Jeb?"

He thinks a little and then says, "no."

"Are you sure? He's old and little and has a long gray beard and dirty clothes."

"No, I don't know anyone named Jeb. Where'd you meet him?"

"Nowhere. I was just wondering if you knew him." If Brian doesn't know the old man, and Adam doesn't, he must really be a ghost.

"Nope, never heard of him. You'd better get back inside to peel potatoes." Brian stands up and turns to go up the steps.

"Brian, can you invite Laura over for dinner?"

"Tonight?"

"Yes!"

"No, not tonight. We're eating soon."

"Please! I bet she'd come if you called and invited her!"

"No, not tonight."

"I'll call her!"

Brian looks down at me says, "no you're not going to call her. Heidi, you have to let me work things out with Laura. I don't want you meddling, you got that?"

I nod my head, but I bet he won't really mind. If he likes her, what harm could it do? Look at Crane and Isabella. I meddled with them and now they're boyfriend and girlfriend. This time I'll just meddle a little bit. I run up the porch steps and through the back door into the kitchen. Guthrie will help me come up with a plan. I just know it!

* * *

><p>"No! I'm not going to help you!" Guthrie says for the third time.<p>

"Please? All we have to do is invite her over to dinner for _tomorrow_ night, not tonight."

"Heidi, you're not supposed to meddle."

"It's not meddling, it's helping."

"No it's not. Brian's not gonna like it if you call Laura. You know he's not."

"But, see, that's why _you_ have to call her. Brian didn't say _you_ couldn't meddle."

"That's because he doesn't have to. I know better, and I'm not gonna call her!"

"Dinner time!" Hannah yells from the kitchen.

Guthrie says, "don't ask me again, ok?"

"Ok." I'm disappointed.

"Last call for dinner!" Hannah yells upstairs.

"Coming!" We both yell and we run out of my room and downstairs for dinner.

* * *

><p>Guthrie and I have to wash the dinner dishes by ourselves tonight. That usually happens when we get in trouble. After dinner Adam said next time we go somewhere we have to follow the rules. If the sign says you have to be eighteen to ride the mechanical bull, then you have to be eighteen. He said no ifs, ands, or buts. He didn't like it when I reminded him that Evan and Ford rode the bull last night and they're not eighteen. He also didn't like it when I told him the worker shouldn't have left his keys in the panel so we 'could' ride it. After all, if the keys weren't there, we wouldn't have been able 'to' ride it. Then Guthrie told me to be quiet. He said we already have to wash the dishes and he didn't want to be grounded too.<p>

Washing dishes is no fun. I dry a plate that Guthrie hands me. I can't stop thinking about Brian and Laura.

"Come on Guthrie, please? Please call Laura for me. If we call her, she'll say yes, and when she comes over we just make sure her and Brian get a lot of alone time."

"No we can't. Don't you remember what happened when you did that with Crane and Isabella?"

"Yes, and they're together now!" I walk over to the table and pick up the rest of the dirty silverware. "The same thing could happen to Brian and Laura. If Laura came over they'd talk, and then they'd kiss, and then...,"

Guthrie laughs. "You're so funny. You think if someone kisses they're boyfriend and girlfriend."

"What's so funny about that?" I drop the rest of the silverware into the sink so it can soak and water splashes both of us.

Guthrie laughs and splashes me and I splash him back. Pretty soon we've got a good water fight going until Hannah comes in to stop us.

"Hey you two, you're supposed to be cleaning up in here, not making a bigger mess!"

We look at her. She's not mad, but I can tell she wants us to stop.

"Hannah, don't you think we should invite Laura over for dinner tomorrow night?" I ask.

"Why? Don't you think Brian should ask her over?"

"Told you!" Guthrie says.

I ignore him. "No," I tell Hannah. "You're friends with her. You could invite her over to be friendly. Maybe she doesn't have a lot of friends here in Murphys."

"Normally I would say that's a nice idea, but you know your brother likes her, so I can't do that. The only reason you want her to come over is so you can try to push them together."

"Well somebody has to!" I tell her. "Brian's not gonna do it!"

The phone rings and Hannah walks towards the living room.

"I got it!" Evan yells.

Hannah turns to us and says, "finish cleaning up in here without making a mess."

We both tell her ok and she passes by Evan on her way out.

"Heidi, that was John," Evan says.

I drop the fork I'm drying and stare at him.

"He wanted to know if you made it home ok," Evan says.

I look at Guthrie and then back at Evan. "What'd you tell him?"

"I told him yes, but what's he talking about?"

I shrug my shoulders and then pick up the fork I dropped.

"Heidi," Evan says, "Ford and I took Lucy's saddle off today and brushed her down. Why did you ride her so hard?"

"I didn't."

"Heidi, she was sweating. What happened?"

"She was?"

"Yes. Didn't you notice?" He asks.

I guess I was too worried about my hand and getting mad at Ford that I didn't pay attention to Lucy. I feel bad now. "Sorry. Is she ok?"

"Yes, but you probably shouldn't ride her tomorrow."

"But I have to!" I look at Guthrie. "We have to go look for the treasure."

"_Where_ is this treasure you're looking for? I thought it was at the river or the pond. You can walk there, you don't need to take the horses," Evan says.

I don't know how to answer that, but luckily I don't have to because Guthrie says, "it's kind of a secret place."

"On our ranch?" Evan asks.

"Yes."

Evan smiles at us. "There aren't any secret places on our ranch."

Guthrie says, "this place is secret."

"Right!" I say. "It's sooooo secret it's like it's not even on our ranch!" I laugh until Guthrie jabs me in my side with his elbow.

Evan says, "well don't ride Lucy tomorrow, she could use the rest."

"Ok," I tell Evan. When he leaves Guthrie and I wash the dishes again. "How are we going to go look for the diamonds tomorrow if I can't ride Lucy?"

"You want to go back there?" Guthrie asks.

"Of course! We need to find those diamonds. Why? Why wouldn't I want to go back?"

"The scary old man! Remember?!"

"Oh yeah. I forgot about him." I put a plate away in the cupboard. "Guthrie, do you think he's coming here tonight? You know, to take his diamonds back?"

"No," Guthrie says, but it doesn't sound like he believes it.

"He's gonna come, isn't he? What should we do? I don't have the diamonds, so it's not like I can just give them back."

"I don't know what to do," Guthrie says. "I guess we should tell everyone about him."

"What?! Are you crazy?! This was your plan to go to the mine and not tell anybody. Now you want to tell them? I don't want to get in trouble! You're not telling anyone!"

"Heidi, I need help. I don't know what to do."

"Then think! What would Adam or Brian do?"

Guthrie thinks while I stare at him. Come on Guthrie, think! Think of something good!

"I got it!" He yells.

"What?!"

"A booby trap!"

"Yes, that's perfect!" I yell. "Wait... how are _we_ gonna make a booby trap all by ourselves?"

"We'll rig up the front door with a trap. We've watched our brothers do it a lot. I think I can do it. Hurry, let's finish the dishes so we can go work on it!"

That sounds like a good plan to me. Guthrie's right, we have watched our brothers make so many booby traps. We like to prank each other and we're really good at it. Guthrie and I wash the dishes faster. We need lots of time to come up with the perfect plan.

* * *

><p>I stare at Hannah's face while she talks to me. She's talking in her normal voice, at least I think she is, it's hard to tell if I'm not listening to her. Her mouth is moving, but I don't hear a word she's saying. Why do I have to listen to her? Why should I do what she tells me to do? Why'd she tell on me to Adam? I'm getting madder and madder the more I think about how unfair this is.<p>

Just because I didn't do everything Hannah told me to do yesterday, doesn't mean anything! Why do I have to do what she says to do just because she married Adam? I keep on staring at her and I just get madder and madder! Guthrie and I have to plan a booby trap. I don't have time for this! Her lips aren't moving anymore. Good! But why is she staring at me like I'm supposed to say something? I look around the living room now. Guthrie's sitting quietly next to me and both Adam and Hannah are sitting on the couch across from us. They're staring at me.

Adam says, "Hannah asked you a question."

"I know. I'm just thinking for a little bit." I hate it when they ask me a question when I'm not listening. I know, I'll just say what Guthrie always says. "Yes. I'm sorry." I stare at Hannah. Please let that be a good answer.

"Thank you," Hannah says. "I'm glad you understand. I think this will be good for us."

"Yes!" I whisper. I'm glad that was a good answer. Brian walks in and I'm glad because now Adam and Hannah are talking to him instead of to me.

"Why'd you say that?" Guthrie whispers to me.

"What?"

"You're sorry, and why'd you agree with her? I never would've excepted you to say yes."

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know, I wasn't listening."

Guthrie smiles and says, "you just told Hannah you'd go to the mother, daughter tea at church next week."

"What?!" I stand up and interrupt Adam, Brian and Hannah. "I change my mind! I don't want to go!"

Adam says, "Heidi, we agreed. I think it would be good for both of you too."

"Well I don't!"

"You agreed," he reminds me.

"Well I didn't know what I was agreeing to! I wasn't listening!"

Hannah looks disappointed when I say that, but Adam doesn't. He looks kind of mad. Especially when he says, "yesterday Hannah told you to do a few things and you ignored her. This tea thing would be good for the two of you to bond."

I put my hands on my hips and say, "what does that mean, _bond_? That doesn't sound like a word _you_ would use!" I stare at Hannah and point to her. "That sounds like a word _she_ would use!"

Everyone's quiet now except for Brian, he says, "I see you guys are in for an interesting night. I'll see you later."

Now I look at Brian. "Where are you going?"

"Into town."

Crane comes in from the kitchen. "I'm ready."

Both Brian and Crane walk to the front door so I ask, "where are you guys going?"

"The hall. There's a good band playing tonight." They start putting their coats on.

"But what about Laura and Isabella?" I ask.

Crane says, "we're picking Isabella up on the way."

I stare at Brian. "What about Laura?"

"What about her?"

"You should pick her up too."

"I called her earlier and she wasn't home."

"So, drive to her house and see if she's home," I tell him.

Brian ignores me and tips his hat to Hannah and Brian. He smiles and says, "have a good night. It sounds like it's going to be interesting." Then he walks out the front door.

"Brian!" I yell. I'm so mad at him! I start to run over to the door but Adam tells me to sit down so I do.

"Leave Brian alone," he says.

Daniel and Evan come running down the stairs now. "See you guys later!" Daniel yells.

"Wait, where are _you_ guys going?" I ask.

"To the hall," Evan says.

"It's not that often I get a night off from the band," Daniel says. "I'm looking forward to dancing."

"So _everybody's_ leaving?" I ask. I'm sad. I don't like it when all my brothers go out. But then I get mad again. "That means we're stuck here with...," I close my mouth because Adam doesn't look happy.

"Bye," Hannah says, "have a good evening."

"You too," Evan says and he smiles at her. "I think you're in for an interesting night."

I wonder what he means by that. What's so interesting about staying home with just Adam and Hannah? At least Ford's still home. After Evan and Daniel shut the door I fold my arms across my chest and ask, "what are _we_ gonna do tonight?"

Adam glares back at me and says, "that depends on _you_."

I don't like it when he says that so I say, "you know what _I_ think? I think _you_ guys should go to the hall too, and let Ford watch us."

I don't think I should've said that because Adam looks really mad now. "I think you should..," he starts to yell, but he stops talking when Hannah puts her hand on his arm.

Hannah looks at me and then at Adam and says, "Adam, would you mind if I talked to Heidi alone for a minute?"

He looks at her and says, "are you sure? She's...,"

Hannah doesn't let him finish. "I'll be fine." She smiles at him. "I've got this."

"Ok," Adam says but I can tell he's not really sure she can handle this. Adam looks at Guthrie and says, "come help me out in the barn."

Guthrie gets up and the two of them leave which just leaves me and Hannah. She's staring at me so I look away. She stands up and comes over and sits next to me on the couch. "Heidi?"

I ignore her.

"Heidi, would you look at me please?"

She's talking really nicely so I turn and look up at her. She smiles. "If you don't want to go to the tea, you don't have to."

"I don't?"

"No. Heidi, I know I'm not your mom. The tea isn't just for mothers and daughters. It could be grandmothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, or even sister-in-laws. I just thought it would be a good way for us to bond."

I glare at her when she says that word and she laughs.

"You were right," she says. "I told Adam it would be a good bonding opportunity for us. He didn't think that word up on his own."

"But what does it mean?"

"It means it would be a good chance for us to get to know each other better. I'd like to get to know you better."

"But we already know each other."

"I know."

"Is this because I didn't do what you told me to do yesterday?"

"No. I've known about the tea for a while. I just didn't know how you'd feel if I asked you to go, you know, since I'm not your mom."

"Oh." I sigh and look down at my hands resting in my lap.

"If you don't want to go, I understand," she says. "Just think about it. If you decide you want to go, I would love to go with you." She lifts my chin up with her hand so I have to look at her. "Think about it ok?"

"Ok. But I'm just _thinking_ about it. I'm not saying I want to go."

She smiles big and says, "I know."

I look at her now. Her face looks happy. I wish I didn't get mad at her. "Hannah?"

She moves her hand away from my face and says, "what?"

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you yesterday. And I'm sorry I was rude to you too. It's just hard because everyone's always telling me what to do. I have eight brothers that always tell me what to do and now you're doing it too and I don't like it."

"I only want what's best for you," she says. "That's what I was trying to tell you out in the living room a little while ago, but I guess you weren't listening."

"Sorry."

"That's ok. I know it's hard for you to listen."

"You do?" That's interesting. "How come you didn't get mad like Adam does when I don't listen?"

"Because I know you get distracted easily. I think it's easier for you if I talk _with_ you instead of _at_ you."

"What?"

"Like we're doing now. We're both talking to each other, instead of me just talking to you," she says.

I think about that for a minute. "You're right! I'm listening to you the whole time right now."

"See. I think that works for you."

"Well, could you tell Adam that? I don't listen to him a lot and it's because he just goes on and on and on about things. Things I don't even understand and then he always asks me if I'm listen. Always! And he knows I'm not!"

Hannah laughs. "I know. I'll try to talk to him, but I'm not sure he'll understand."

"Well maybe if you talk to him really simple like you're talking to me, he'll understand it."

She smiles and says, "that's not exactly what I meant. I meant..., well, never mind. I'll talk to him."

"Good."

"How about a hug?" She asks.

I smile and stand up and give her hug from where she's sitting on the couch. "I'm sorry Hannah. I'll try to do what you tell me to do."

"Thank you. I know that's hard for you. Now, how about you help me make hot chocolate for everyone."

"Ok." That reminds me that it's just five of us here tonight. I wonder if the band is good that's playing at the hall. Usually it's Daniel's band that plays. I wonder if everyone's dancing. I wonder if... "Hannah?"

"Yes." She's getting the big coffee pot out.

"I have to do something first and then I'll come help."

"Ok."

I run into the living room and over to the big desk. I start looking at all the papers on top of it. Laura's phone number has to be here somewhere. I pick up a paper to see if it's underneath it but it's not. I see other numbers that are written down, but not Laura's. I guess I could look it up in the phone book. I find the book in the top drawer where we keep it and right there written on the cover is Laura's phone number. It's in Brian's handwriting. Perfect! I pick up the phone.

That's weird, there's no dial tone. Then I hear Ford say, "thanks for helping with Suzy today."

Then I hear Cleo's voice. "I like helping with her."

I'd better hang up. I'm not supposed to listen to other people's conversations. But, maybe it couldn't hurt to listen just a _little_ bit.

"Thanks for listening to my apology today. I really am sorry. I..., I just wanted those boys to go away."

"I know Ford."

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know."

"I'm sorry. It's just..., well..., I just like you so much. I think I..., I think I...,"

What Ford? Just say it. Is he going to say he loves her?

He says, "I think I...," one more time and Cleo says, "I know Ford. I think I...,"

"Awwwwww," I say into the phone.

"Heidi?!" Ford yells.

Oops. I hang the phone up and Ford walks out of his room carrying the other phone in his hand. The long cord follows him. "I'm on the phone!" He yells down to me.

"Sorry. I needed to use the phone."

"I'll be off in a minute." He goes back into his room and shuts the door.

After a minute or two Ford walks out of his room and sets the phone back on the small table in the hall. Then he goes back into his room and when he shuts his door I pick up the phone down here and dial Laura's number.

"Hello?"

It's her! " Hi Laura! This is Heidi. Heidi McFadden."

She's quiet and then she says, "hi Heidi," in her real friendly voice. It sounds like she's smiling. "I'm surprised to hear your voice."

"I know. I just wanted to call and find out if you were going to the hall tonight."

"The hall? No, I wasn't planning on it."

"No? Oh. Laura you 'have' to go! There's a good band playing and there's going to be lots of dancing."

"Ok. Well that sounds nice. I'm just not sure I'll know anyone there."

"You will!" I tell her. "Brian will be there! Laura, Brian called you earlier today to invite you, but you weren't home."

"That's weird. I was inside all day. I don't think the phone rang once today."

That is weird. Maybe Brian was dialing the wrong number. "Laura, I know he wanted to invite you. Crane and Isabella will be there too. So are Daniel and Evan. That's," I count, "five people you know. Please say you'll go."

She laughs and says, "alright, I guess I'll go. I've been taking care of my dad all day. I suppose it would be nice to go out for a few hours."

"Yes!" I yell. "I mean, great. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun. And remember, Brian tried to invite you."

"Ok. Thank you for inviting me for him Heidi. Goodbye."

"Bye." I hang up the phone. I _knew_ I should've invited her! I knew it! Everybody else said not to meddle, but I know meddling pays off. Now Laura and Brian can dance and have fun together. It'll be just like they're on a date!

I run into the kitchen.

Hannah looks at me. "Wow, you sure look happy," she says.

I smile even bigger. "I am. Pretty soon Brian's going to be happy too," I tell her.

She looks at me funny while she stirs in the cocoa. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing." I smile at her and then I drag the stool over to the stove so I can help stir.

* * *

><p>When Guthrie and Adam come inside from working in the barn, the five of us play Clue. I'm not very good at it yet, but it's still fun to play because I like moving my person to the different rooms. I also like playing around with all the weapons. Hannah and I made some chocolate chip cookies to go with our hot chocolate and we all have a fun time playing together. Ford's really good at playing Clue and after he wins Hannah, Adam and Ford decide to play blackjack. I don't like that game because it's too hard for me. Math is my worst subject and I hate adding up cards in my head.<p>

"Come on," Guthrie whispers to me. "We've got a plan to talk about."

I follow Guthrie out into the living room and he says, "I've got it all planned out. We're gonna rig the front door so ice cold water pours all over Jeb when he comes inside, and then I'll tie him up with a rope, and you'll shoot him with your BB gun."

"It's perfect! Are you sure you can get a bucket rigged up above the door."

"I've watch Brian do it millions of times. I even have the rope and the bucket upstairs already. I hid it under your bed. Well, the rope's under there. The bucket wouldn't fit so it's behind your door."

Adam walks in and says, "it's time for you to get ready for bed."

"Aw, can't we stay up later? We don't have any school tomorrow," Guthrie tells him.

"You've got a busy day tomorrow," Adam says. "You need your rest."

Guthrie groans. "That's right, I forgot. I have to work at Mr. Wilson's ranch again." He walks over to the stairs.

Darn! Now I have to find the diamonds by myself tomorrow!

"Heidi, go get ready for bed," Adam says.

"Why? I don't have a busy day tomorrow. I'm just going to dig for buried treasure."

"No, you're going to work on Mr. Wilson's ranch tomorrow too," he says.

"What?! Why?!"

"Because _you_ broke the window," Adam says.

Guthrie stops on the stairs and says, "then _I_ don't have to go to bed now."

"Yes you do. You covered for your sister."

"But isn't that a nice thing to do for your sister?" Guthrie asks. "She already helped make a hundred dollar mess at the feed store, then she broke the window. I just didn't want her to get in even more trouble."

"Yeah," I tell Adam. "He was just trying to help me."

"Well, the two of you can help each other tomorrow on Mr. Wilson's ranch. Go get ready for bed."

Guthrie walks up the stairs slowly and walk over to them even slower. How am I going to find the diamonds now? I owe so much money I bet it'll take a whole month of working to pay it off! I need those diamonds so I can give them to my family.

* * *

><p>When I'm all ready for bed I grab my stuffed puppy from the top of my dresser that Evan gave me for Christmas and jump up on my bed with it. I jump up and down a few times until Guthrie comes in. Then I jump and land so I'm sitting on my bed. I laugh and Guthrie closes my door a little bit.<p>

He whispers, "I'll wake you up after everyone goes to bed."

"Are you gonna stay awake until everyone comes home?" I ask.

"Yes. I'll just read."

"I'll read too, then we'll both be awake."

"You always fall asleep Heidi."

"Well, this time I won't. Are you sleeping upstairs, or downstairs tonight?"

"Up."

I get back up and jump on my bed one more time when a horrible thought comes into my head. I stand and look down at Guthrie. "What if Jeb comes earlier? What if he's waiting outside right now? What if..,"

"Heidi, if he's out there right now Adam and Ford will get him," Guthrie says.

"Adam and Ford will get _who_," Adam asks as he walks into the room.

I stare at Adam. What do we say now?

Guthrie says, "no one. Heidi was just a little bit scared."

"Of what?" Adam asks as he walks over to my bed and starts pulling my sheets back. I plop down and sit on the bed.

"Of things," I tell him.

"What kind of things?" He pats my pillow so I lean back, but I'm not laying down yet.

"Scary things."

Adam looks at Guthrie and says, "what scary things."

Guthrie says, "she's just scared about a scary guy she calls Jeb."

I look at Guthrie and shake my head no. Adam looks at me. "Is this the same Jeb you were asking about earlier today?"

I look up at Adam and shake my head no.

"Who's Jeb, Heidi?" Adam asks.

I don't know what to say, but luckily Guthrie says, "he's an old man some kids have been talking about. He's really mean."

"Why are you scared of him, Heidi?" Adam asks.

I shrug my shoulders.

"He's like a ghost and he goes around haunting little kids," Guthrie says.

"He does?" I ask him. I look up at Adam and say, "see, he's scary."

Adam says, "there's no such thing as ghosts." He covers me up with my blankets.

Guthrie says excitedly, "well, Jeb is real and he waits outside little kids' houses at night and...,"

"He does?!"

"Goodnight Guthrie," Adam says.

I sit all the way up. "But wait, what else does he do?"

Adam shakes his head and says, "no. Guthrie don't answer that question." Adam sits down on my bed. "Guthrie go to bed. I'll be in in a minute to say goodnight."

"Ok. Goodnight Heidi." Guthrie leaves but I yell after him.

"But wait! What else does he do?" I try to get out of bed.

"No, you stay right here." Adam holds me down.

"But what does he do?" I ask.

"Nothing. He's not real."

"Yes he is! He's waiting outside right now!"

Adam sighs. "Heidi, stop thinking about scary things like that."

"No, he's outside, I know he is!" I'm really scared now.

"No he's not," Adam says. "There's no one outside."

"How do you know?"

"I know. Now lay down and I'll read you a story."

I lay down and Adam takes a book off the small pile on my dresser. Hannah checks books out for me at the library on Saturdays. I like the books she picks out, but tonight I can't listen to the story when Adam starts to read. All I can think about is Jeb.

"Adam, do you think Jeb has an ax?"

Adam stops reading and closes the book. "Dang it Heidi, if you start talking about ax murderers I'm going to start getting mad. Quit thinking about those kinds of things."

"But, what if he's out there waiting? What if he..,"

"We've talked about this before. There's no one outside."

"You don't know that...,"

"Yes I do!" Adam stands up and says, "stop it! What do you want me to do? Go outside and look for him?!"

I think about that and then I look up at Adam and nod my head.

"What?! No! I'm not being serious!" Adam looks at me and shakes his head. "You're gonna make me go outside aren't you?"

I nod my head again. "Please?"

Adam looks real tired now. He scratches his head and then shakes it as he walks out of my room.

"Wait!" I yell and I jump out of bed.

"What?"

"Don't forget to take your shotgun." I follow him down the hall to the stairs.

"Go to bed," he says.

"No way! I want to see you shoot him if he's out there!"

Guthrie runs out of the boys room. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" Adam yells. "Go back to bed!"

"We're going outside to look for Jeb!" I yell excitedly. "Adam's gonna shoot him!"

"I'm coming too!" Guthrie yells and he runs back to his room.

"No you're not! None of you are!" Adam yells.

"What's going on?" Hannah asks. Her and Ford are coming out from the kitchen.

Guthrie yells, "Adam's gonna shoot somebody!"

"What?! I'm coming too!" Ford yells.

Adam stops at the front door and says, "no one's going anywhere!"

"Who's outside Adam?" Hannah asks.

"Jeb!" I yell. "Adam's gonna shoot him!"

"Would you quit saying that!" Adam yells. "I'm not shooting anybody! I'm going outside to look around."

"With your shotgun," I remind him.

Adam glares at me and then gets his shotgun down off the wall. I look at Guthrie and he has his shoes on and his BB gun.

Ford laughs and says, "what are you gonna do with that, Guthrie?"

"He's gonna shoot Jeb with it," I remind him.

Adam points at Guthrie's gun and says, "that thing stays in here."

Hannah asks, "who is this Jeb person?"

Adam glares at her and says, "it's a ghost! It's a scary ghost man with an ax!"

Ford laughs and Adam says, "you laugh now, but just wait until you have little kids."

"I'm not little!" I yell.

Adam says something under his breath that I can't hear. Then he turns to Hannah and says, "I'm going outside to look around a little..,"

"A lot!" I add and he glares at me.

"I'll be back."

All of us follow him out the door. Hannah stands on the porch while the rest of us walk down the steps. Adam walks out onto the grass and I follow, but I don't have any shoes on and the grass hurts my feet. I don't think it's real grass, I think it's just green weeds that we mow down.

"Wait for me!" I yell because I have to walk slowly. Ford comes back for me and picks me up.

The four of us walk around the house quietly. I see a shadow near the bottom of the porch railing. "What's that!" I yell and I point to the shadow.

"That's just a bush," Ford says.

"It looks like a person."

"That'd be a really small person," Ford says.

"Jeb is really small. He's a really small old man."

"How do you know?"

"I've seen him."

"What do you mean? I thought he was a ghost."

"Ford, I don't know 'what' he is!"

"Where'd you see him?"

I can't answer that.

"Where'd you see him?" Ford asks again.

"I don't know," I say quietly.

We're still walking around the house. Adam's walking pretty fast and Guthrie has to run a little to keep up with him. "Ford, Adam's walking too fast. How's he supposed to find Jeb if he's not checking everywhere carefully."

"Adam knows what he's doing. This isn't his first time checking the perimeter of the house."

"It's not?"

"No, sometimes we do a check when..., never mind," Ford says and he stops talking.

"What? Check for what Ford?"

"Nothing, forget I said anything."

We're done walking around the house now and Ford sets me down on the porch steps. "Has Adam searched for ax murderers before?" When Ford doesn't answer I say, "he has, hasn't he?"

"No, I didn't say that!"

I run up the steps to Adam. "Ford says you've checked for ax murderers before!"

"What?!" Adam looks at Ford.

"No I didn't. Heidi, I didn't say that."

"Yes you did! You said Adam's used to checking around the house!"

"Not for ax murderers!" He says.

"Then what?" I ask.

"Yeah, what?" Guthrie asks.

"Would you two get inside now," Adam says. He sounds annoyed.

"You checked too fast," I tell him. "You didn't look everywhere."

Adam puts his shotgun back and turns around to look at me. "I checked everywhere. There's nothing out there."

"What about the barn?" I ask.

Adam sighs. "I'm not going out to the barn." He picks me up and looks into my eyes. "Heidi, there's nothing out there. Trust me."

He looks tired so I say, "ok," really quietly, even though I don't believe him. Jeb said he knew where I lived and I believe that!

"It's time for bed now," he says. He walks me upstairs to my bedroom and Hannah and Guthrie follow. "Guthrie, you go to bed too."

Adam sets me on my bed but I don't get under the covers yet. "Now what?" Adam asks.

"I'm still scared."

"I know." He moves me so he can put the covers over me and then he sits down on my bed. Hannah sits on it too. "Lay back and we'll sing to you."

"That's not gonna help," I tell him as I look up at him.

"You don't know that," Hannah starts to say.

"Yes I do," I tell her. "I'm way too..,"

Adam covers my mouth up and says, "would you just be quiet for two seconds." Then he says, "and by two seconds I mean two hours at least."

I want to say something so bad but Adam's not moving his hand out of the way so I can't.

"Listen to me," Adam says. "You're safe. Nothing bad is going to happen. There's no man waiting outside, we checked. It's time to close your eyes and go to sleep." Now he moves his hand, but before I can say a word he says, "quiet."

Hannah starts singing first. It's a song I love so I listen while I stare up at her. She smiles and I smile back. Her voice sounds so pretty and when Adam starts singing they look at each other and smile. They look so happy. My eyes start to feel heavy but I can't let them close. I have to stay awake. They're both singing so softly and they look like they're in love with each other. Like maybe Crane and Isabella, or Ford or Cleo, or maybe even Brian and Laura. I yawn and turn onto my side. Pretty soon my eyes close and I fall asleep.

* * *

><p>"Stop it!" I push Guthrie's hands out of the way. "Stop! Let me sleep!"<p>

"Heidi, be quiet and wake up!" Guthrie whispers. "We've got to get our trap ready!"

"I'm up!" I say and I open my eyes and sit up fast. How could I fall asleep? "I'm awake."

"Good. Help me with the bucket and get your BB gun. Be quiet too."

Guthrie gets down on the floor and starts pulling rope out from under my bed. I get down and look for my BB gun. I know it's under here somewhere. "Did you get some extra BBs from the barn?"

"Yes, I got a few." He pulls out a little tin from under my bed and hands it to me. "You shouldn't need more than that. You won't have time to reload."

I take the tin and find my gun. Guthrie carries the rope and the bucket and we tip toe into the hallway.

"Are you sure everyone's sleeping?" I whisper.

"Yes. The truck and the jeep are here too," Guthrie whispers back.

"What about Brian?" He sleeps on the pull out bed in the living room. "Won't we wake him?"

"No, he can sleep through anything."

Guthrie's right, Brian's hard to wake up. It's easy to pull pranks on him in his sleep.

We tiptoe down the stairs and stop at the bottom. Guthrie looks up at the top of the front door. "See, there's still a nail there from the last time Brian pulled a prank."

I look up and see a big nail sticking out of the wall. I don't think it's a nail though. It's way too big to be a regular nail. It looks strong too. I guess it has to be strong to hold a bucket of water.

"I'll go fill the bucket up with water, you get the ice," Guthrie says, so I follow him into the kitchen.

I need to use a chair to stand on to get the ice trays out. I help Guthrie put the ice in the water. Guthrie puts his hand in and says, "that's freezing! That'll stun Jeb! He won't know what hit him!"

Guthrie carries the bucket out to the living room and over to the front door. He sets it down on the floor and ties the end of one of the ropes onto the handle. I watch him get a chair from the kitchen and stand on it. There's no way he can put the bucket on the big nail. He's to short to reach it.

"What about the stool in the kitchen?" I whisper.

"That'll work," he says.

I run into the kitchen to get the stool and I drag it out as quietly as I can. Guthrie hands me the bucket and I hold it while he gets on top of the stool. The bucket is pretty heavy. I have to lift it up to Guthrie and when he takes it from me he almost loses his balance. Luckily he doesn't. He reaches up as high as he can with the bucket and has to stand on his toes. I'm worried he's going to fall while he tries to put the bucket handle on the nail. I think we both breathe a sigh of relief when he gets it on.

He eases his way down the stool instead of jumping down so he doesn't make any noise. Then he looks up at that bucket. "There. That should do it. When we hear Jeb, I'll pull the rope, the ice water will fall on him and distract him, then I'll tie him up with this rope, and you shoot him with your BB gun." He sits down on the floor in front of the door. "Now we wait."

"Right here? In front of the door?" I ask.

"Yes. We have to be able to hear him coming."

"Ok." I sit next to Guthrie in front of the door and we wait.

* * *

><p>"What time is it now?" I ask Guthrie.<p>

"You just asked me that two minutes ago," Guthrie says.

I'm tired. "We've been waiting a long time," I tell him.

We're both leaning against the front door. "I know," he says. "We have to stay awake though."

"Guthrie, do you think Jeb has an ax?"

"If he does he'll drop it when the ice water hits him."

"Are you sure?"

"You said he was old, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Then he'll drop it. He won't know what's going on."

I'm quiet for a while. But then I start to get scared. "Guthrie, it's too dark in here."

"I told you, it has to be dark so he won't see us. I'm right here, you're ok."

"What time is it now?" I ask.

"Sh! Did you hear that?"

"What?!" I listen carefully.

"I think I hear something," Guthrie whispers.

"What?"

"I don't know, be quiet."

I listen and then I hear it. Footsteps are walking up our porch steps and they're walking up fast.

"Get ready!" Guthrie yells.

We both jump up and I grab my BB gun and back away from the door. I'm scared now. Guthrie stands to the side of the door and holds both ropes in his hands. The door opens fast. I scream and Guthrie yanks the bucket rope and the whole bucket comes off the nail along with the ice water. It gets dumped all over Jeb. Guthrie starts running around Jeb with the other rope to try to tie him up. Jeb is yelling, I'm screaming, and Guthrie yells, "I thought you said he was little Heidi!"

"He was!" This Jeb is way taller than the Jeb I saw earlier today.

"Shoot, Heidi shoot!" Guthrie yells.

I aim my BB gun at the tall dark figure that's waving his arms around and yelling. Then I shoot him three times in a row.


	10. Chapter 10

All of a sudden the lights turn on and the person we thought was Jeb is really Brian. He's moving his arms all around trying to untangle himself from the rope that's wrapped loosely around his middle. He's yelling, "get me outta this!" Adam and Hannah are running down the stairs and Adam's yelling, "what's going on?!" The rest of my brothers are running out of their room yelling too. Guthrie runs away from Brian and over to me and I let go of my BB gun so it can drop to the floor.

I stare at Brian. He's wet and he's still waving his arms around, and now his legs, as he tries to free himself from the rope. He's yelling and some of the words are swear words that Hannah doesn't like my brothers to say anymore. All of us are staring at him and then Daniel and Evan burst out laughing. Ford starts laughing and then Crane laughs. Hannah is smiling and I think Adam is too, me and Guthrie aren't. I can't because I'm scared. Brian looks angry. Probably the angriest I've ever seen him. He finally gets himself free from the rope and then he looks at me and Guthrie.

If glares could kill I'd be dead right now. Brian looks around at the floor. He kicks the empty bucket away from him, looks at the ropes lying on the floor, looks at my BB gun lying on the floor and then he looks at me and Guthrie.

"Run!" Guthrie yells.

We both run towards the kitchen while Brian yells, "get back here! I'm gonna kill you!"

I scream and run to the far side of the kitchen table. Guthrie runs there too. When Brian comes into the kitchen he stops and stares at us and I can tell he's thinking about which way he's gonna run around the table to get us. I get myself ready to run in the opposite direction.

Brian glares at me and yells, "you're lucky those BBs shot me on my legs and not my face!"

Everyone runs into the kitchen and stands behind Brian. Crane and Adam stand on either side of Brian and try to calm him down.

"It was a prank," Crane tells him.

"You don't shoot people for a prank!" Brian yells. He starts to lunge to his right and when Guthrie and I start running to our right, Brian switches direction really fast and runs towards his left. Crane grabs him and Adam helps hold him back.

Adam says, "he's right, you don't shoot people for a prank."

"Sorry!" I yell loudly, but it's not a mad yell, it's a scared yell. Brian still looks really, really mad.

"What were you thinking?!" He yells. He breaks free of Crane and Adam, but doesn't move. He's glaring at us and I can tell he wants us to answer that question.

Guthrie and I are quiet. I'm quiet because I don't know what to say, but mostly I'm quiet so I don't make Brian angrier. And then I start to cry.

"We thought you were someone else," I cry.

"Who?" Brian asks.

I look at Adam and say, "Jeb."

"Heidi was scared," Guthrie says. "We thought we could set a booby trap to catch him."

"We thought Brian was already home," I tell him. "Both our cars are here."

"I got a ride home from someone else."

I want to ask from who really bad, but I can tell Brian's not in the mood to talk. Everyone's quiet now. Crane shakes his head and says, "you two sure know how to put on a show in the middle of the night. I thought it was world war three when I heard those gun shots go off." He pats Brian on the back and says, "sorry brother, I'm going back to bed. Goodnight everyone."

"You scared the heck out of me," Adam says.

"Sorry," Guthrie says.

Daniel, Evan and Ford say they were scared too, but glad everyone's all right. They smile at Brian and Brian glares at them and then they say goodnight. That just leaves me, Guthrie, Brian, Adam and Hannah and they all look tired.

"I think we all need to go to bed," Hannah says.

"You guys can explain all this in the morning," Adam says.

Brian is staring at me and Guthrie and he says, "just remember, pay back's a...,"

"Brian!" Adam yells.

"Just saying," he says and he leaves the kitchen.

"What does that mean?" I ask Guthrie.

"It means he's gonna get us back."

"Get to bed," Adam says.

I follow Guthrie around the table and over to Adam and Hannah. Hannah gives me a quick hug and when I walk into the living room I see Brian pick up my BB gun.

"What are you doing with that?" I ask him.

He looks down at me and says, "I'm keeping it for a while." Tears form in my eyes because I know he's disappointed I used it to shoot him. Brian taught me never to point a gun at someone, and never, ever, shoot someone with it. Then he says to Guthrie, "you can give me yours tomorrow. I'm assuming you helped come up with this plan of shooting someone."

"Yes," Guthrie says quietly.

"I'm going upstairs to get dried off," Brian tells us and I watch him walk over to our tall bookcase behind the wood burning stove and put my gun on the top shelf. He looks at me on his way over to the stairs and says, "don't even _think_ about taking that down."

I nod my head and watch him go upstairs and then I cry. Guthrie looks sad too.

"Come to bed," Adam says and he puts his hand behind my head to guide me towards the stairs.

Hannah and Guthrie follow. I look up at Adam. "I didn't mean to shoot Brian, he was supposed to be Jeb."

"I know. We'll talk about it in the morning." I put my head down and walk upstairs. "You can put the ropes and the bucket back in the morning too," Adam says.

"I'll wipe up the water," Hannah says. "I don't want that to wait until the morning."

"Let them do that," Adam says.

"No, they need to get to bed."

"Thanks Hannah," Guthrie says.

I stop at the top of the stairs because Brian is coming out of the boys' room and he still looks mad. He's holding his pajamas in his hand and he walks to the bathroom. Adam pushes me forward gently so I start walking towards my room. I stop outside Adam and Hannah's bedroom door.

I look up at Adam. "I'm scared."

"There's nothing to be scared of," he says and he nudges me towards my room.

"She really thinks Jeb is going to come and get her," Guthrie says.

"I know that, but Jeb's not real," Adam says, "he's just a made up old man from her head."

"No he's not!" I tell him. "He's real! I saw him!"

"Where?" Adam asks. "Where did you see him?" I don't know what to say, but I can tell he wants an answer. "You're making that part up, aren't you?" He asks. "This Jeb, ghost, person isn't real."

"But he is!"

Adam picks me up by my armpits and plops me on my bed. "Stop making things up. You had me look all around the house tonight and we didn't see anyone. Remember?"

I nod my head. "But I'm telling you he's real."

"He is Adam," Guthrie says.

Adam looks at Guthrie and asks, "how do you know? Did _you_ see this Jeb person?"

"No."

"That's what I thought. Go to bed Guthrie. We can talk more about this in the morning." Adam looks down at me. "Lay down."

I shake my head no. "I'm scared."

"I'm tired. I've heard enough about Jeb, now lay down and go back to sleep."

"I can't."

"You haven't tried."

"Can I sleep in your room?"

Adam sighs and sits down on my bed. "Heidi, you need to sleep in your own bed. I know you're scared, but if you just close your eyes I know you'll be asleep in no time. Lay down now."

I lay down and he covers me up. I know I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep, but I also know he wants me to try. I close my eyes and he kisses my forehead. "Goodnight," he says. He stands up and I open my eyes and watch him leave my room. As soon as he's gone I sit up.

My little pink lamp that sits on top of my dresser is on. It's always on at night because I'm afraid of the dark. But my lamp can't help me feel safe when I know Jeb is coming to my house to steal his diamonds back that I don't even have. I hear Hannah talking to Adam out in the hall.

"Is she asleep?" Hannah asks.

"She will be soon. I know I'm going to be asleep soon." I hear their door close and then I start to feel more scared. If their door is closed how are they gonna hear the front door open? Brian is hard to wake up, so he probably won't even hear if Jeb comes inside. The longer I sit and think, the scareder I get. I start thinking of all kinds of scary things. Ghosts, monsters, ax murderers, Jeb... That's it! I get out of bed, run out into the hall, and down to Adam and Hannah's bedroom. I fling their door open wide and run to Adam's side. It's dark in here but he reaches over and puts his arm around my waist. He picks me up and lifts me over him so I'm in the middle of the bed. Right in between him and Hannah. I lay on my side and face Hannah while I snuggle up against Adam. He puts his arm around me and I feel safe. I close my eyes because _now_ I can go to sleep.

* * *

><p>When I wake up in the morning I'm still in Adam and Hannah's bed, but they're not. I sit up and stretch and look at the clock. 7:00. I'm still tired, but I'm hungry and the smell of sausage cooking downstairs makes me get out of bed and run out into the hall and right smack into Brian.<p>

"Ow," I say as I rub my forehead.

"Watch where you're going," he says back.

I look up at him. "I'm sorry Brian. We weren't pranking you, honest. I thought you were someone else."

"Who else would I be?" He asks.

"I thought it was an old man named Jeb."

"The man you were asking me about yesterday?"

I nod my head.

"Why would he want to come here?"

I feel bad because I can't tell him that. All I can do is shrug my shoulders.

He says, "Adam thinks you're making this Jeb guy up."

"I'm not. I really saw him."

"Where? Where did you see him? You were here all day yesterday. Was he on our ranch?"

"No."

"Then where did you see him?" He stares at me and waits for an answer, but I don't know what to say. He says, "see, I think you're making him up too."

"I'm not! I wouldn't shoot _you_! I would never shoot you!"

"Well, you did!"

I start to cry.

"Don't start crying! I hate it when you do that!" That makes me cry more, but I can see he's not as mad anymore. "Heidi, please stop crying."

Crane comes out of the bathroom. "What's the matter?"

Brian says, "she won't stop crying!"

"I wasn't asking _you_," he says. "What's wrong Heidi?"

"Brian thinks I'm making Jeb up! So does Adam, and I'm not!" I wipe my eyes and look up at Crane. "Do _you_ think I'm making him up?"

Crane looks at me and then Brian and then back down at me. "Well, I...," he doesn't say anything after that.

"You do too?" I feel like my heart hurts. "He's real," I cry, "he's really a real person."

"I don't know," Crane says. "I think maybe you..,"

I run away from them and down the hall to the boys' room. Guthrie believes me. I run into the room and look around for Guthrie. Daniel, Evan and Ford are in here putting their socks and boots on.

"Is Guthrie in here?" I ask.

"No. Why are you crying?" Evan asks.

"Adam, Brian and Crane don't believe Jeb is real," I tell them.

"Well is he?" Daniel asks. He's sitting on his bed with a sock in his hand and he stops what he's doing to look at me. "Where did you meet him?"

"I..., I met him..., I can't tell you!"

"Heidi, where'd you go yesterday?" Evan asks.

I look at him. "What do you mean?"

"Where were you that you rode Lucy so hard?"

"On the ranch."

"Where?" Daniel asks.

When I don't answer Ford says, "we think you were somewhere else yesterday. Somewhere _not_ on the ranch."

I look at him. How do they know?

"We're right, aren't we?" Evan asks.

I just stare at the three of them.

"Is this place where you went yesterday the place where you met Jeb?" Daniel asks.

I nod my head.

"Where were you?" Daniel asks.

"What did he say to you?" Evan asks.

"Did he hurt you?" Ford asks.

The three of them crowd around me wanting me to answer their questions so I say, "he said he knew who I was and where I lived and he was coming to...," I stop talking.

"To what?" Ford asks.

"Yeah, what?" Evan asks.

"Tell us. We'll protect you," Daniel says. "What did he say? Did he touch you? Talk to us Heidi."

"He didn't touch me, he just scared me."

"Tell us where he is and we'll go knock some sense into him!" Evan says.

"Yeah, we'll bring a shotgun with us," Daniel says. "Just to scare him."

"I can't tell you where I saw him," I tell them and I look down at the floor.

"Why?" Ford asks.

"Heidi, we want to help. We can't do that if you don't tell us where you were," Daniel says.

"I don't want to get in trouble," I tell them.

They're quiet for a minute while I stare at the ground and then Evan says, "we won't tell on you."

"We won't tell," Daniel says, "we just want to tell this guy to leave you alone."

Ford puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "tell us Heidi. We won't tell on you."

I look up at him. "Promise?"

He smiles at me and says, "promise." Then he looks at Evan and Daniel and says, " don't we?"

"Promise," Evan and Daniel say and they smile too.

"We know how to keep a secret," Ford says.

"Ok...," I start to tell them, but I can't.

"Just tell us," Evan says.

I try again. "I was at the mine. Jedediah Smith's mine." They're staring at me like they're shocked and they're quiet. Daniel is the first to speak.

"You went there by yourself?"

I nod my head. "I did yesterday."

"Heidi! Are you crazy!" Evan yells. "Do you know how far away that is?!"

Why are they so mad? "That's why I rode Lucy."

"Don't you know that mine could collapse at any minute?" Daniel says.

I shake my head no. What are they taking about?

"Don't ever go to a mine by yourself!" Evan says.

"Heidi, you could've been hurt," Ford says.

"Well, I wasn't there 'all' by myself. Kenny and John were there too."

"Is that why John called last night?" Evan asks. "Did he see Jeb too?"

"Yes. Jeb was really scary! He said he knew who we are and where we lived. Then he started chasing us! Who is that man? Is he a ghost?"

"No, I have a good idea who he is," Daniel says. "His name's not Jeb, it's Bart."

"Bart?" I ask. "Why'd he say his name was Jeb?"

"It's a long story," Ford says, "but basically he's a drunk who likes to hang around the old mines. He's looking for Jeb's treasure, any treasure, and sometimes I think he's lost his mind...,"

"Probably from all the drinking," Evan says, and they all agree.

Ford says, "he likes to pretend he's Jeb to scare kids away from the mine."

"He was really scary," I tell them. "Kenny and John were scared too."

"Did you ride there all by yourself?" Ford asks.

I nod my head. "Remember, you promised not to tell."

"We won't," Evan says. "But you have to promise us something."

"What?"

Daniel says, "promise you won't go back."

I look at him. I can't promise that. I need to find those diamonds. Our family needs the money.

"Promise Heidi," Evan says.

The three of them are staring at me, waiting for me to answer. "Ok," I say quietly. "I promise I won't go back."

"Good. Now you're coming into town with us and you see if you can point this old guy out to us," Daniel says.

"I can't go to town. I have to work on Mr. Wilson's ranch."

Ford says, "we'll go to the ranch afterward. I have to go to the feed store to pay Mr. Smith the money we owe him. I'm sure Adam will let you go do that."

"You point this guy out to us, and we'll tell him to leave little kids alone," Daniel says.

"I'm not little," I remind him.

"Right now you are," he says and I don't argue with him. "Go get dressed so we can leave after breakfast."

They get back to putting their boots on and I run to my room. I'm not looking forward to seeing Jeb again, but at least some of my brothers believe me, and it sounds like they're going to scare Jeb. Or Bart, or whatever his name is. I close my door so I can get dressed.

* * *

><p>When I'm dressed I open my door, but then I close it really fast when I hear my name being said downstairs. I open my door wide enough to see through it and I look downstairs.<p>

Adam, Crane and Ford are standing at the big desk in the living room and Crane is holding one of 'the books' in his hand. I hope Ford isn't telling on me. Adam takes his wallet off the desk and opens it up. He starts taking money out.

"I've got a ten and two fives," he says and he hands it to Ford. "What do you have Crane?"

Crane puts 'the book' down and pulls his wallet out of his front pocket. When he opens it up he shakes his head. "A five and three ones. That leaves twenty-two dollars left we have to come up with."

That doesn't sound right to me. I know we owe a hundred dollars, so why do we just need a little bit of money? Ford must be wondering the same thing because he asks about it.

"The total damage was a hundred dollars," Adam says. "There were four of you, so that's twenty-five a piece. Fifty dollars for us."

That's a relief. I mean, fifty dollars is still a lot of money, but it's waaaay cheaper than a hundred dollars.

"I'll go see what everyone else has," Ford says and he takes Adam and Crane's money and walks into the kitchen.

I start to open my door to come out, but Crane says, "how are we gonna pay for that truck windshield? I can't believe it's so expensive."

"I know," Adam says. "I can't believe it either, but it was one of those big fancy new trucks they're making now. The guy said something about it being a special tint and the antennae being inside it. I don't know what kind of trucks they're making now a days, but they just seem to keep getting bigger and bigger. A brand new truck, can you believe it? She throws a rock in a parking lot full of old beat up trucks and she finds the one brand new one to throw the rock through."

"A five hundred dollar window!" Crane says.

What?! I didn't know that.

"I don't think our whole truck is worth five hundred dollars," Adam says.

"I _know_ it's not," Crane says. He opens up 'the book'. "I don't know how to pay for it. I keep looking at the numbers, and it just doesn't work. There's no way Heidi can make that kind of money. What did Mr. Wilson pay Guthrie yesterday?"

"I think he made about eight dollars," Adam says and he scratches his head. "With the two of them working today they might make ten, maybe twelve dollars max."

"I know you don't like Hannah working, but we could really use the money right now. If she could pick up some more shifts this month, we might be able to make it work." Crane closes 'the book', and puts it on the desk.

"Don't tell Heidi, or Guthrie how much the window costs," Adam said. "I don't want them worrying about that kind of money. The less they know, the better."

"I'm with you on that brother. Hey, who knows, maybe they'll strike it rich with this treasure they're digging for," Crane says.

They both laugh as they walk into the kitchen. I open my door and walk out into the hall. I know I promised Ford, Evan and Daniel I wouldn't go back to the mine, but I 'have' to go back now. I know Guthrie will agree with me too. We have to find those diamonds more than ever now!

* * *

><p>I'm quiet during breakfast and Guthrie is too. I know it's because he doesn't want to work on Mr. Wilson's ranch again. At least Adam is letting both of us go into town after breakfast so we don't have to start working right away. I can't wait to tell Guthrie what Daniel, Evan and Ford are going to do. I look around the table and listen to the conversation now.<p>

"Who brought you home last night Brian?" Crane asks.

Everyone looks at Brian and he says, "Chuck."

Darn. I was hoping it was Laura.

"Did you get to talk to Laura more after we left?" Daniel asks.

"Laura was there?" Hannah asks. She raises her eyebrows as she looks at Brian.

Brian smiles. "As a matter of fact, she was there, and yes, I _did_ get to talk to her more after you left."

I want to ask Brian so many questions right now, but I can't because I think I'm the last person he wants to talk to.

"Ok, spill the beans," Crane says. "Did you ask her out?"

"Yes."

"Yeah!" I yell and I stand up and clap my hands.

Everyone looks at me and laughs, except for Brian so I sit back down.

"Did she come by herself?" Hannah asks, "or was she with friends?"

"She was by herself. She said a friend told her there was a really good band playing at the hall and she decided she'd better check it out."

I put my head down and smile when Brian says that. He doesn't know _I'm_ the friend.

"That must've been nice," Hannah says. "Did you dance with her?"

"Did you kiss her?!" Guthrie asks and I smile at him.

Brian laughs and says, "I don't kiss and tell."

I ask Hannah quietly, "does that mean he kissed her?"

"It means, it's none of our business," she says.

The conversation turns to chores and who needs to do what, and who's working on the Wilson's ranch so I tune all that out. I'm so happy Laura went to the hall last night, and I'm so happy Brian asked her out. I wonder where he's taking her.

"Hey munchkin, let's go," Daniel says to me. I guess I didn't hear him because he's waving his hand in front of my face. "Come on, we've got a lot to do in town and only a short time to do it in."

I stand up and carry my plate over to the sink. I wonder who's doing the dishes today. Probably no one, because everyone's setting them in the sink and leaving the kitchen. Even Hannah.

"See ya'll later. We'll drop Heidi and Guthrie off at the Wilson's when we're done in town," Daniel says and we all head to the front door.

* * *

><p>During the ride into town I fill Guthrie in on what I told our brothers about Jeb and going to the mine.<p>

"Good," he says. "It really scared me yesterday when I found out you rode there by yourself. What would you have done if Kenny and John weren't there and you ran into Jeb all by yourself?"

I shrug my shoulders and think. What would I have done? I wouldn't have gone in the mine, that's for sure. When Daniel pulls up to the feed store, we all get out of the jeep. Ford, Guthrie and I are the only ones going into the feed store. Daniel and Evan walk across the street to the market.

The feed store is a little crowded this morning. There are a few people in line at the counter, and a few more are walking around the small store looking for what they need. Ford stands in line because both Cleo, and Mr. Smith are working behind the counter today.

"Don't touch anything," Ford says to us, but he's mainly looking at me when he says that.

"I won't," I tell him, and I'll try not to. Sometimes things just look so interesting to me I just have to reach out and touch them. Guthrie and I walk to the back of the store where the live crickets are. When the sun shines on their cage in the morning, all the crickets huddle together in the sunlight. They're doing that this morning. I put my hand on the side of the cage so I block some of the sunlight and the crickets in the shadow move to the sun. Guthrie and I laugh while we make the crickets move around by blocking the sun.

After a while I get bored of that. I notice there isn't a line at the counter and Ford is gone. So is Mr. Smith. I walk up to Cleo where she's standing at her cash register.

"Good morning Heidi," she says. "Do you need anything today, or are you just here to pay Mr. Smith?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know if we're getting anything. My brothers never tell me anything."

She smiles and says, "let me know if you need anything."

"Where's Ford?" I ask.

She points to the door behind the counter. "He's with Mr. Smith in the office."

"Did those other boys pay for the damage they made?"

"They came in yesterday morning."

"Were they nice to you?"

"They were. They apologized too. I think your brothers might've had something to do with that."

I nod my head. "They did. Ford felt so bad for what he said, Daniel and Evan said they'd talk to the boys. They're pretty good about persuading someone not to talk."

Cleo laughs and says, "I guess so. All I know is those boys were very nice to me yesterday, so your brothers must've been _very_ persuasive."

"Are you coming over to the ranch today?" I ask her. I hope she says yes.

"Of course. I love that little calf so much. She's getting bigger every day too. Stronger too. I wish I could take her home with me right now."

I smile up at Cleo. I can tell she really likes Suzy. She's going to be a good veterinarian some day. Ford comes out of the office door behind Cleo and he's carrying a big sack full of something.

"What's that?!" I yell excitedly.

"Don't get too excited," he says. "It's a sack full of feed and seeds all mixed together. It's some of the mess we made that Mr. Smith couldn't sell. Crane said, if we have to pay for the stuff, we might as well take it."

"What's he gonna do with it?"

"_We_ get to sort it," Ford says.

"What?! We're sorting all that?!"

"Yep, and there's two more bags of it too."

"No!"

"Yes. You and me are going to be pretty busy the next couple of days."

"But what are 'we' gonna do with all that once we sort it? We don't even use some of that stuff."

Ford says, "we'll use some of it, and the stuff we don't use maybe we can sell to someone else." He lifts the sack up onto his shoulder. "Go get Guthrie and tell him it's time to go."

I walk to the back slowly and find Guthrie. Three sacks full of beans? That's gonna take a million years to sort! The only thing we'll probably use is the chicken feed too. So far this morning isn't turning out to be good.

* * *

><p>Ford loads the sacks in the back of the jeep and Daniel and Evan put a box of food in the back and a sack of potatoes.<p>

"Potatoes again?" I complain. "I'm tired of potatoes. Why can't we have something else?"

"Potatoes are cheap," Daniel says.

Oh. That explains why we've been having them so often.

Daniel closes the back of the jeep. "Let's go see if we can find Bart. He's usually in the same place in the morning."

"You mean Jeb," I tell him.

"Let's see if he's sobered up," Ford says.

The five of us walk down the street to the bar on the corner. My brothers walk around the corner into the alley and there laying on the ground is a man. It's hard to see what he looks like at first because he's curled up on his side and facing the other way.

"Bart!" Evan yells. "Hey Bart! Wake up!"

We walk up to him and the man looks like the same size as Jeb. He's also wearing dirty clothes and I think he has a gray beard. The man turns to look up at us and he squints. He shields his eyes with his hand. "What? Who's there?"

I hide behind Ford. That's Jeb alright.

"Bart, you need to leave the little kids alone," Daniel says. "You're scaring them again."

Bart waves his hand downwards twice and says, "eh? I don't know what you're talking about."

"The mine Bart. We're talking about the mine," Evan says.

"Those diamonds are mine!" Bart yells.

"That's not your property," Daniel says. "You need to stop scaring the kids."

"Those kids need to quit stealing my diamonds!" Bart coughs really loudly.

"What's wrong with him?" I whisper to Ford.

"He's drunk, that's all."

He looks really dirty and I feel sorry for him. I think my brothers do too, because Daniel asks Bart if he's ok.

Bart waves us off and says, "I'm fine, I'm fine. I could just use a drink or two."

I step out from behind Ford and say, "I think you've had enough."

Bart squints again and says, "that sounds like a girl. You got a girl with you?"

"Yes, I'm a girl." I step closer to him.

"I know you!" He yells. "You're the girl on the horse!" He sits up really fast and reaches for my ankle. I scream and run behind Ford again. "Give me my diamonds!" Bart yells.

"I don't have them!" I yell back.

"Yes you do!" Bart tries to stand up, but he falls over instead.

Evan reaches down to help him sit. "Go home Bart. Go home and sober up."

"Leave the kids alone," Ford says. "They don't have any diamonds."

"Hey Bart," Daniel says, "this is our sister, Heidi. You scared her yesterday. You have to stop doing that. Ok?"

"Ok, ok," Bart says and then he lays down again.

"Do you want a ride home?" Daniel asks. When Bart doesn't say anything Daniel asks again. Then we hear Bart snore.

"He's out," Evan says.

"Come on, let's go." Daniel turns around to walk back to Main Street.

"Wait, we're just gonna leave him here?" I ask.

"Yes," Ford says. "His family will come looking for him soon. They'll take him home."

"He has family?" Guthrie asks.

"Yes, now let's go. We've got to get you two to the Wilson's ranch," Daniel says and he walks towards Main Street.

I feel sorry for Bart, and I'm not as scared of him anymore. Hopefully he'll stay away from the mine now.

* * *

><p>The best thing about working on the Wilson's ranch is Mr. Wilson has a lot of horses. He has a lot of cows too, but I don't care about those.<p>

Mr. Wilson is known for being the best horse tamer around. If you need a horse broken in, he's the one to take it to. He hires a lot of teenagers to help him during the summer. Evan worked for him last summer. Evan's always been really good with horses, but the summer he worked with Mr. Wilson made him even better with horses.

Daniel walks with me and Guthrie out to the stable. Guthrie tells me we're going to be mucking out the stalls today and I groan.

I'm not too happy I have to help a ranch hand muck the stables. I have to do that at home, why do I have to do it here? At least I get to work with Guthrie so we can talk. I haven't gotten a chance to tell him how much the window costs that I broke.

A man walks over to us and says hi to Guthrie. I guess he worked with Guthrie yesterday. Daniel leaves after telling us Crane will be back to get us at lunchtime.

The ranch hand, Roy, explains what we have to do in each stall, and then he leaves to go do his own work. "I'll be back in an hour to check on you," he tells us before he leaves.

I look at Guthrie and then I look at the stable. This place is huge! We're standing in a long hallway and the horse stalls are on both sides. "How many stalls do you think there are?" I ask Guthrie.

"It looks like there are eight on each side so, sixteen."

"It looks like there a hundred!"

"Let's get busy. The sooner we finish, the sooner we get paid and the sooner we get to go home."

"Guthrie, guess how much the windshield costs that I broke."

He shrugs his shoulders. "A hundred fifty?"

"Nope."

"Less?" He asks.

"Nope."

"_More_ than a hundred fifty?" He sounds surprised.

"Five hundred dollars!" I tell him.

"What?! No way! How could a windshield cost that much money?"

"Adam said it was a new truck and there was something special about the glass."

"That's crazy," Guthrie says. "You could buy a whole used car or truck for that much money!"

"I know. Guthrie, we can't afford five hundred dollars. I heard Crane say that. He wants Hannah to work extra shifts this whole month."

"Adam's not gonna like that."

"I know, but he knows it's the only way to make five hundred dollars. Unless...,"

"Unless what?" Guthrie asks. "You sound like you have a plan."

"Unless we go back to the mine and find those diamonds."

"We can't! You promised you wouldn't go back."

"That was _before_ I knew how much the window cost. Guthrie, Adam said us working here today was only going to make ten or twelve dollars. He doesn't want us to know how much the window cost, because he doesn't want us to feel bad. But I feel bad."

"I do too, and I didn't even break the window. That's a lot of money. Ok, we'll go back to the mine, but we can't tell _anyone_ we're going back. Not, Ford, or Evan, or Daniel. They'd tell on us for sure if they knew we were going back there. Let's get to work on these stalls so we can get out of here. Hopefully we'll have time to go to the mine before dinner."

"Ok. Let's work fast!"

We start with the first stall on our right. I hope it doesn't take that long to muck out the stalls. I'm gonna work as hard and as fast as I can.

* * *

><p>I'm dead tired. I think we've been working for hours, but Guthrie says we haven't even worked one hour yet because Roy hasn't been back to check on us. "You can't be tired yet," he says.<p>

"But we've only done two stalls. That leaves a zillion to go!"

"Fourteen. But you're right, this is going to take all day. Look, here comes Roy."

I look towards the entrance to the stable and sure enough, Ray is coming to check on us. He has someone with him. It's Laura!

"Laura!" I yell and I run out of the stable and up to her to give her a big hug.

"Hi Heidi," she says as she hugs me back.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I came to help Mr. Wilson break in a new horse."

"You did? Can I watch?"

Guthrie's here now and he says, "we have to work, remember?"

"Oh, right," I say sadly. "But I'm so tired. We've been working for an hour. Can we take a break?"

Roy says, "why don't you kids take a break. I'll go check out the stalls you've cleaned." When he starts to walk away I run over to him.

"Mr..., Mr..., Roy?"

He stops walking and looks down at me. "Yes?"

"We've only done two stalls. It's going to take us all day to do the rest."

Roy laughs and says, "you can't muck out all these stalls in one day. You're here until lunchtime. Whatever you get done before lunch, is what you get done."

Well that's a relief. Laura walks by and I walk with her.

"What horse are you gonna work with?"

"That pretty white mare over there in the fourth stall."

I look to where she's pointing and the horse is pretty. She looks as white as snow. "How old is she?"

"Mr. Wilson thinks she might be three, but I'll get a better idea when I start working with her."

I didn't know Laura knew so much about horses. "Laura, how do you know so much?"

"I worked on a horse breeding ranch in Wyoming for four years after I graduated high school."

"You graduated from Sonora high, right?"

"Yes. College wasn't for me. I wanted to work with horses. Breeding them, taming them, you name it. I want to have my own horse ranch someday."

"That sounds like fun. I love horses too, but I'm going to be a professional rodeo circuit rider. How come you left town?"

"My daddy has a good friend out in Wyoming who runs a huge cattle ranch. I went out there because I knew one of the best horse breeding ranches was out there. One of the best in the country. I stayed with my dad's friend and his family. They gave me free room and board and I worked as a ranch hand for them. All my free time was spent at the horse ranch where I volunteered."

"Are you going to open your own horse ranch in Murphys now that you're home?" I ask her.

"Well, I'm helping out at my daddy's ranch right now since he had hip surgery. I'm hoping to stay out here for good. It'd be nice to turn part of my dad's ranch into a horse ranch or buy some land of my own."

She walks up to the pretty white mare and holds an apple out in her hand. The horse takes it from Laura and Laura puts her hand on the mare's nose and speaks quietly to her. "Hi," she says as she looks in the mare's eyes. Without taking her hand away or looking away Laura says, "Heidi, this is Snow White."

"Snow White? That's the perfect name for her," I whisper.

"I think so too," Laura says quietly. She removes her hand and the mare turns and walks away. Laura takes a rope off the peg on the wall next to Snow White's stall and opens the gate. Laura is quiet and she moves slowly.

"Break's over," Guthrie says as he walks up with two shovels in his hands. I take one from him.

"Did you know Laura is a horse tamer?"

"No."

"I wonder if Brian knows. I bet he would like that. Don't you think she's perfect for him?" I watch her walk around Snow White carefully while saying something so quiet I can't hear what it is. "Hey! Don't you think it's funny that Laura tames horses and Brian wants to treat a girl like a horse?"

Guthrie laughs. "Yeah, that is pretty funny."

We go back to our job of mucking out the stalls, but I'm not much help because I'm still tired from the work I already did. I spend most of the rest of the morning watching Laura work with Snow White out in the pen. When she takes a break, I take a break.

I run up to where she's leaning against the fence of the pen Snow White is in. I climb up the fence a little ways so I'm almost at her eye level.

"How goes mucking out the stalls?" She asks.

"It's messy."

She laughs. "I know that."

"Laura, I have a very important question to ask you."

"Shoot," she says.

"If someone says, 'you have to treat a woman like a horse,' what does that mean?"

She laughs and says, "I'd say it means if the person saying that is a man, he's single."

I smile. "Yep!"

Laura looks out across the pen to Snow White. "Look at her Heidi. Do you see how she's running back and forth along the back fence?"

"Yes." Snow White looks like she wants to jump the fence and get out and run around.

"She wants to run out there and roam free, but I've got her penned up. She's not free."

"So Bri..., I mean, this _man_ wants to keep a woman penned up?"

"It sounds like it."

"Why? Why doesn't he want her to roam free?"

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say he was afraid she'd really roam free and might never come back. Or maybe he wants to keep her all to himself. I don't know."

"Maybe he's afraid she'll go out with someone else," I suggest. "Maybe he thinks she'll like that person better than him."

"The only way for him to know is to let her roam free. If she comes back to him, well...," Laura stops talking and looks off into the distance.

I wonder what she's thinking about. She looks like she's concentrating really hard on whatever it is she's thinking about. I stay quiet and let her think. Finally she talks.

"Why are you and Guthrie here working?" She asks.

Hmmm. Do I tell her the truth? I don't know so I say, "I kind of owe a lot of money."

"What happened?"

"I broke a truck window."

"Oh, that's not good."

"Guthrie covered for me so he's helping out, but the worst thing is, the window costs five hundred dollars."

"That can't be," she says. "That's one expensive window."

"It was the windshield of a brand new truck."

"Oh, those trucks are getting bigger and fancier. Too big and fancy for me. I'll take my old beat up truck any day over a big fancy new one."

"I'd like one of those big fancy trucks that has a back seat so my whole family would fit inside the truck and the jeep when we go places. Right now someone always has to sit in the back of the truck."

"You do have a big family. I like that. It's nice that you all still live together. You're close. I have a big family, but we're spread out all over the place. I miss them."

"Heidi!" Guthrie yells. "Get back to work!"

I sigh. "Bye Laura."

I run off towards Guthrie and he says, "I know you're tired, but we have to get 'some' of these stalls mucked out."

"I know. Sorry, but this is hard work. Our stalls in the barn aren't as big as these are. My arms are tired."

"I know, mine are too, but I think we get paid for each stall we clean. Crane's picking us up at noon so that only gives us a half hour to finish this one."

I pick up my shovel and scope up some dirty hay with it. I shovel it into the wheelbarrow and then I take a break. "It's too hard Guthrie. The shovel is too heavy."

"Use the pitchfork."

"It's too big."

"It's just for a little while longer. You can do it."

I feel like crying. My arms hurt so bad.

"I'll help you," Laura says.

I look over at the stall gate and Laura is standing there holding a pitchfork. I smile at her and she says, "us small ranch owners have to help each other out every once in a while." She picks up some clean hay and starts spreading it around. "Heidi, I'll throw down the clean hay and you move it around with your feet. Your arms must be tired."

I smile at her and nod my head. I like Laura. I think she'd be perfect for Brian. "Laura?!" I yell.

"What?" She stops throwing hay down and says, "you almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry. Brian said he's taking you out on a date. Where are you going?"

"I don't know, he said it's a surprise."

She starts throwing hay around again and I spread it all around. I hope he takes her someplace nice. No, I hope he takes her someplace fun. She seems more like a girl who would like a bar that has a band playing to dance to, instead of a fancy restaurant with tablecloths. Maybe...

"Heidi, you're daydreaming," Guthrie says.

"What?"

"I said Crane's here. He's talking to Roy."

I look over to the stable entrance and see Crane walking over here with Roy. I wish Brian was picking us up instead. Then he could see Laura.

"Are you two ready to go?" Crane asks. "Hi Laura." He tips his hat at her.

Roy pulls out his wallet and takes some dollar bills out. He counts out six ones and hands them to Guthrie. He does the same for me. "Thank you."

"No problem. I'll see you next weekend," Roy says.

I look over at Guthrie when he says that and Guthrie shrugs his shoulders.

"We're coming back next weekend?" I ask Crane.

"Yes. The next three weekends."

"And that will pay off the whole window?" I ask Crane.

Crane looks at me and nods his head really quickly and then looks away. He walks towards the jeep with Roy and Guthrie follows them, but I stay back to say bye to Laura.

"Laura, if Guthrie made six dollars and I made six dollars that's..., twelve right?" She nods her head. "If we work here three more weekends will that make five hundred dollars?"

Laura thinks for a little bit and says, "would you be working both Saturday 'and' Sunday?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess so."

"Then that would make..., well, twelve times six is seventy-two, so you would make seventy-two more dollars."

Wow! She has her multiplication facts memorized! "But that's no where near five hundred dollars."

"I know, but if you add that to your twelve dollars you earned today, you would have eighty-four dollars. That's about what a regular old beat up truck window would cost to replace if you knew someone who could install it for free."

"I'll never throw another rock again."

"That's good to hear."

Guthrie yells, "Heidi come on!"

"Bye Laura," I yell as I run off. "Thanks for helping."

"Anytime Heidi," she yells after me.

When I reach Guthrie he whispers, "come on, we have to hurry so we can get out to the mine. If we want to find those diamonds today, we only have a few hours left. We can't take Lucy either, so we both have to ride my horse, or borrow someone else's, and I think there will be too many questions if we do that."

He's right. We've got to get home fast. With both of us riding Guthrie's horse we're going to have to ride slower. That means less time to look for diamonds. I climb in the back of the jeep and Crane drives us home.


	11. Chapter 11

"Hurry up Heidi," Guthrie whispers to me. "We have to get going."

"I know, just let me finish eating this." I pop the last bite of my sandwich into my mouth and chew it really fast while I clean up my dishes.

"Come on," Guthrie whispers, "I don't want to get stuck doing the dishes."

"Me either."

Crane made lunch for everybody so Adam could take Hannah into town. She's going to talk to Marie about working extra shifts. I hope Marie lets her.

Crane and Ford are busy packing up lunch to take out to Brian, Daniel and Evan. They're working out on the north pasture. Guthrie and I try to sneak out of the kitchen but Crane spots us.

"Where are you two off to?" He asks.

We're quiet. I'm not going to say a word. I'm going to let Guthrie do _all_ the talking.

"We're going to the river," he says. "We've got to keep looking for that buried treasure."

Ford looks at me and says, "you're not looking in the same place you looked yesterday, are you?"

I shake my head no at him even though I feel bad about lying. I don't want him to tell Crane where I was yesterday.

"Will you guys do the dishes?" Crane asks.

I groan. "Right now?"

"Yes right now. That buried treasure will still be there when you're done," Crane says as he smiles at us.

Guthrie says, "the dishes will still be here after we find the treasure. We can wash them then."

Crane says, "dishes first, buried treasure after."

"Aw man!" I complain.

Ford and Crane pick up the two boxes of lunches and Crane says, "be back before dinner. Adam and Hannah should be back before dinner and the rest of us will be back then too. We'll be out on the north pasture if you need us."

"We won't," Guthrie says sadly.

"Cheer up," Crane says, "it should only take you an hour to do all those breakfast and lunch dishes."

Ford smiles and I glare at him and then they walk out of the kitchen.

"Guthrie, this is going to take forever!" I look at the big stack of dishes in the sink and the stack of plates and glasses on the counter that wouldn't fit in the sink. "What a mess!"

"I know, I can't believe _we_ have to do all this by ourselves!" We both stare at the sink and then Guthrie says, "we might as well get busy. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go."

We walk to the sink and Guthrie turns the faucet on while I get out a dish towel. I hate washing dishes, but Guthrie's right. The sooner we finish, the sooner we get to go find the diamonds.

* * *

><p>"Heidi, you can't take that," Guthrie says as he watches me climb up the stool.<p>

I had to bring the kitchen stool into the living room so I could reach my BB gun. I know Brian said not to touch it, but I need it right now. I'm not as scared of Jeb, or Bart, as much as I was yesterday, but he's still pretty scary when he's drunk. "Guthrie, I 'need' it. Besides, Brian will never know. I'll get yours down too."

Guthrie gave Brian his gun this morning and Brian put it up on top of the bookcase with mine.

"No, don't," he says. "I don't want to get in trouble."

"You won't. Brian won't know, he's not going to be back until dinnertime. We just have to make sure we're back a little before that. Besides, you'll feel better if you have it if we run into Jeb."

"You mean Bart," he says. "Ok, I guess you're right, but that means we have to get home before Brian. We have to get home before everyone."

"Don't worry. We'll get home before everyone else and put these back up here before anyone even notices they're gone." I stand up on my tippy toes and reach as high as I can. I can feel one of our guns and I try to grab it, but I can't quite get my hand, or even my fingers, around it.

"Here, let me try," Guthrie says.

I jump down from the stool and Guthrie climbs on top of it. He can reach way better than I can and he is able to get them both down and hand them to me. Once I have them, he jumps off the stool.

"Alright, let's get going. We've got to saddle Chance up."

"Do you think I could ride Lucy?"

"No. You remember what Evan said. She needs to rest from yesterday."

"I know, but what if he's wrong?"

"Heidi, when has Evan ever been wrong about a horse?"

He's got a point. "Ok. Maybe we could borrow Adam's horse."

"You know you're not allowed to ride him without permission," Guthrie says. "He's too big for you."

Guthrie's right. I guess we're both going to have to ride Guthrie's horse, Chance, after all. I hand Guthrie his BB gun and we leave the house.

* * *

><p>Kenny and John are already at the mine by the time we get there. Guthrie is tying up Chance when they come running over.<p>

"What took you guys so long?" Kenny asks.

Guthrie tells them about mucking out the stables at Mr. Wilson's ranch. When he's finished we get our shovels and flashlights out of our packs. Then we each carry our BB guns over our shoulder. Brian put a strap on our guns so we could carry them over our shoulder, or back, or across our chest so our hands could be kept free. Once we're wearing our guns we walk with Kenny and John over to the mine.

Guthrie and Kenny go into the mine first, and then John and I follow. I'm still a little scared of the mine so I walk slower. John walks with me and pretty soon Guthrie and Kenny are a little bit ahead of us and John asks, "how's your hand?"

I shine my flashlight on it. "It's good. I forgot all about it."

"Heidi," John says, "I was worried about you yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

Guthrie and Kenny are quite a ways ahead of us now. There's a turn in the mine shaft up ahead and they just turned into it so we can't see them anymore. Just their light.

"I was worried Jeb was going to catch you. He followed after you. I tried to get him to stop and chase after me instead, but he wouldn't. Was it ok that I called your house last night?"

What does he mean? Why wouldn't it be ok. "It was ok," I tell him. "My brothers didn't mind." That must be the answer he wanted to hear because he breathes a sigh of relief.

"Good, I was hoping it was ok."

"The only thing is, they don't know where I was yesterday." John looks confused so I say, "Guthrie and I haven't told my brothers we've been coming here."

"Why not?"

"They wouldn't want us to come here. Especially me. They think I'm too little. I'm ten, it's not like I'm eight."

John stops walking and shines his flashlight just below my face. "I keep forgetting you're ten. Sometimes I think you're just as old as me."

"I almost am. You're only eleven, that's just one year older."

"I know, I just forget you're ten, that's all."

We start walking again and come to the turn in the mine. We follow the path Kenny and Guthrie took and see them just up ahead. It looks like they're digging in the ground.

"Did you find an X?!" I yell. John and I run up to them.

"I don't know. Maybe," Kenny says. "It's hard to tell. It might be half an X." He shines his flashlight just to the right of where they're digging and sure enough there's a marking in white that looks like half an X.

I throw down my BB gun and get down next to them on my knees and start digging. I'm so excited! This has to be where the diamonds are buried, it has to be! I dig and dig and dig and then I hit something hard.

"I found them! I found the diamonds!" I yell.

The boys stop digging and watch me. The lighting is really dim in here because we only have one flashlight on. It's standing up pointed at the ceiling of the mine so it's hard to see what I'm digging, I can only feel something hard so I try digging around it.

"I think it's a box," I tell them.

"Hurry up," Kenny says.

"I am. Just hold your horses."

I try to push my shovel underneath the box but it's hard to do.

Guthrie takes my shovel. "Here, let me try." He pushes the shovel under and grunts while he tries to push the box up. "It's heavy!" He pushes harder and all of a sudden the box pops up. Guthrie and I use our hands to dig it out the rest of the way and then Guthrie sets it on the ground.

John shines his flashlight on the box. It's about as big as an old cigar box and it's wooden. I wipe the dirt off the top of the box and see writing on it.

"What does it say?" Kenny asks.

John shines his flashlight lower so it's right above the gold writing on the box.

I wipe at the top some more and say, "I don't know, it's hard to read. I think it's in a different language."

We each take turns looking at the box and trying to read it. When it's my turn again I hold it out and shake it. There's a rattling sound.

"It's got something in it!" I yell excitedly.

"Open it!" The boys yell.

I turn the box around. "There's a lock on it," I tell them. The box has a latch on it that's held closed with a small gold padlock. "We need a key."

"Let's just bang it against the ground," Kenny says. "Maybe the box will break open."

"No, what if it breaks the diamonds," John says.

"I don't think you can break diamonds," Guthrie says.

"Let's take it outside and try to open it out there where we can see better," John suggests.

"Ok." We all agree and quickly we pick up our shovels, flashlights and BB guns. I carry the box so Guthrie carries my shovel and flashlight and we walk through the mine to the entrance.

* * *

><p>Once we're outside we throw all of our gear on the ground and the boys crowd around me while I look at the box. It looks old. It's a dark, dark brown, almost black, and I can see now that the writing on the top of the lid 'is' really gold. Some of the letters are worn off and I can see it's definitely a foreign language.<p>

"What does it say?" Guthrie asks.

"I don't know, the writing isn't English."

John takes the box and looks at the writing. "I bet it's French or Spanish or something like that."

"Hannah knows French," I tell him.

Guthrie says, "but we can't show her the box."

"Why not?" I ask. "It's got diamonds in it. We have to show someone."

"But then we'll have to say where we found it," Guthrie says, "and we're not supposed to be here."

"Who cares? She won't mind if we were here when she sees the diamonds. She won't care where we got them from."

"Enough chit chat!" Kenny says. "Open it!"

"How?"

I look at the box John is holding and he pulls on the padlock. It doesn't budge. "I think we need the key," he says.

"Smash it against a rock," Kenny says. "Smash it against that one."

I look to where he's pointing and see a large granite rock sticking up out of the ground. John sees it too and he walks towards it. He bangs the lock against the rock, but nothing happens.

"You have to hit it harder than that!" Kenny says and he takes the box out of John's hands. "Hit it like this!" He holds the box above his head and brings it down hard on the rock. Nothing happens.

"Let me try," Guthrie says and he takes the box from Kenny. He bangs it against the rock and nothing happens, John bangs it against the rock harder, and nothing happens. He gives the box to me and I bang it against the rock and nothing happens.

"I think that thing's made of steel, not wood!" Kenny says.

"I know, it's impossible to break," John says. "It must be made of walnut wood."

"Or almond," Guthrie says.

"How are we gonna open it?" I ask.

"I think we need to saw the lock off," Guthrie says. "Or cut it off with big pliers, or bolt cutters, or something like that."

We're all quiet and I think about that. I guess that would work. It's too bad we don't have the key for the lock. It would be...

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A loud voice yells from behind me.

The voice scares me and I jump. When I turn around, the little old man from yesterday is standing there. I guess we were too interested in looking at the box and trying to open it that we didn't hear him walk up.

"You found my diamonds!" He yells. "Give them to me!"

I think Jeb, or Bart, or whatever his name is, is wearing the same clothes as he was this morning and yesterday. They're really dirty. 'He's' really dirty. I bet he hasn't taken a bath or a shower for a week! He's holding a bottle of something that I bet is alcohol and he takes a drink from it.

"You're not going to steal my diamonds!" Jeb yells. He looks at me. "You're not going to ride away this time either." He almost falls over and then he laughs and points to the pathway we followed to get to the mine. "I let him go!" Jeb laughs and this time when he wobbles, he falls over.

I look to where he's pointing. What's he talking about?

"Chance!" Guthrie yells.

I gasp. "Where's Chance?!"

Jeb laughs and tries to stand up.

"What'd you do with my horse?" Guthrie asks.

"I told you," Jeb says and he waves his arm around in the air, "I let him go."

"Chance!" Guthrie yells.

I look around for Chance. I don't see him, or hear him.

"Now," Jeb says, "give me my diamonds!"

"Go to h**l!" Kenny says.

When Kenny says that, I'm shocked. I think Guthrie and John are too, because we're all staring at Kenny and our mouths are open.

I think that makes Jeb angry because he swears back. He calls us all a bad name. Kenny yells another swear word back and Guthrie whispers, "stop it Kenny, you're making him mad."

I don't think Kenny cares because he calls Jeb a really bad name now and Jeb lunges towards him.

"Quick, get your stuff!" Kenny yells.

The three of us hurry and grab our flashlights, shovels and guns. I only grab my BB gun because I'm still holding the box. I throw my gun over my shoulder and watch Kenny run around in a circle with Jeb trying to chase him which is really hard for him to do. Jeb is clearly drunk. He's trying to run, but he can't. All he can do is stagger. When Kenny sees we have our stuff, and his, he stops running. Jeb stops and looks at us. Then he looks right at the box I'm holding in my hands.

"Give me that," he says.

"No!" I yell.

Jeb reaches behind his back with his right hand to pull something out.

"He's got a gun!" John yells and he pushes me behind him so I fall on the ground. The box drops out of my hands and falls to the ground too. I look at Jeb and he's holding something in his hand. He holds it like a gun and says, "give me the box!"

"It's just a harmonica!" Kenny says and then he laughs.

Jeb looks at the harmonica he's holding and waves it around a little so the sun shines off of it. "This is a gun," he says and he points it at us.

I stand up and pick up the box.

"Be quiet Kenny," John whispers. "He might have a gun. Maybe he pulled out his harmonica on accident."

"I have a gun!" I yell, and I'm not afraid to use it. I set the box on the ground and quickly bring my gun around to my front and take the strap off my shoulder. I cock my gun and aim it at Jeb. Right at his chest.

"Heidi, don't!" Guthrie says. "You're not supposed to point that at people!"

"This is why we brought our BB guns," I remind him. "In case this guy showed up."

"I know, but he's not gonna hurt us. He's holding a harmonica at us. I think he's so drunk he's going to pass out pretty soon and when that happens, he'll be asleep." Guthrie pauses and says, "remember, BBs can really hurt someone. Even though they're small if you accidentally shoot him in the eye you can really hurt him."

I think about that. Guthrie's right. BB guns don't look like they can hurt a person, but they can. We've seen small animals get killed with BBs, usually it takes a few shots to kill them, so if I shot Jeb I might hurt him. I lower my gun, but when Jeb starts staggering towards me I aim it at him again.

"Don't shoot!" John yells, and he puts his hand on the top of my gun and pushes it down. But I already pulled the trigger. Because John moved my gun the BB doesn't hit Jeb, the BB hits Guthrie right on the side of his neck.

Guthrie flinches and slaps his neck. "Ow! Don't shoot at people!"

"I'm sorry," I tell him. "I didn't mean to shoot you."

"Give me that box!" Jeb yells and he's close to me. Guthrie pushes him down and he lands on his butt.

"The box isn't yours!" Guthrie yells. "We found it! Now stop bugging us!"

I stare at Jeb sitting on the ground. He tries to stand up, but he can't. He slurs his words when he says, "I'll get my diamonds! You'll see! I know where you live! I know where you live!" His eyes are closed now and he sways back and forth a little before he leans back and lays on the ground. "I'll get you," he says quietly. "I'll get you...," and then he's quiet.

"Is he dead?" I ask.

"I don't think so," John says.

"We have to check," Guthrie says and he gets down on his knees next to Jeb.

"Be careful," I say.

Guthrie leans down and puts his ear towards Jeb's face. He must be listening to him breathe. "He's asleep," Guthrie says.

"Good," Kenny says. "Let's get out of here!"

Guthrie stands up and grabs my hand and pulls me. "Come on! We've gotta get going. We have to look for Chance 'and' be home before dinner."

"We'll help you look for Chance," John says.

"Thanks," Guthrie says and he walks fast while still holding my hand. He's pulling me faster and squeezing my hand harder.

"Guthrie, stop! You're hurting me!"

Guthrie stops and looks at me. "You think I'm hurting you?! Look what you did to me!" He holds up his chin and shows me the red mark where I hit him with my BB gun. "You think I can't feel this?! I can't see it right now, but I can feel it and it's raised. You're lucky it didn't break the skin!" He yells.

"I'm sorry! Why are you so mad?"

"Because we're in trouble now!"

I'm confused. "How? All we have to do is show them the diamonds in the box."

"You don't even know what's in the box! What if it's nothing?! What if it's full of rocks?!"

I didn't think about that. "It's not _that_ heavy," I tell him. "I don't think it's full of rocks. Maybe a little bit of rocks, not a lot."

Guthrie's mad. "I can't believe I came here with you today! I can't believe I let you convince me to take our BB guns! We're in so much trouble! How am I gonna hide this BB mark from them? I bet it's as red as a strawberry!"

"Yeah," Kenny says, "it kind of is."

It does look as red as a strawberry. How could I have been so dumb? I should've known better. He's right, the bright red circle is round and raised. I know my brothers are gonna know what it's from the second they see it. I wonder if Hannah's ever seen a BB gun mark before. I wonder what she'll...

"Heidi!" Guthrie yells and it shocks me. He must've been talking to me and I didn't hear him. "Stop daydreaming and listen to me!" I look at him. "Help me find Chance. Click your tongue as loud as you can."

I do that after Guthrie yells Chance's name. Then we all four stand still and listen. I don't hear anything. Guthrie yells again and I click my tongue. When we don't hear Chance, Guthrie puts his head down.

"We'll find him," John says.

Kenny puts his arm around Guthrie's shoulders. "Yeah, we'll find him."

"How?" Guthrie asks. He lifts his head and moves away from them. He looks so sad. He sounds sad when he says, "what if we don't find him? What if he's out here all night and a coyote or wolf gets him? Or worse, a mountain lion!"

I gasp. Poor Chance! We have to find him now! We just have to!

Guthrie says, "we need to be home before dinner. We have to put our BB guns back and," Guthrie stops talking and stares down at the ground. I wonder if he's crying.

"Guthrie?" I say quietly. "Guthrie, what time do we have to leave in order to make it home by dinner?"

"A half hour ago! We're already late and we haven't found Chance yet!"

"We can run home," I suggest.

"I don't think you can keep up. It might tire you out sooner than walking will, and then you'll have to stop and rest."

"What are we gonna do?" I ask. I feel like crying now. My eyes start to tear up. I'm not used to Guthrie not knowing what to do. He always knows what to do!

Kenny says, "you guys go home. We'll find Chance, just go."

"I don't want you to get in more trouble than you already are," John says. "Don't worry about Chance, we'll find him and either take him back to my place, or we'll bring him home to you, ok?"

Guthrie doesn't answer at first. I can tell he's thinking. I know he doesn't want to leave Chance out here, but I know he also doesn't want to be late. "Ok," he finally says. "We'll go home and you guys look for Chance. Heidi and I will bring the box home and we'll try to open it. We'll call you when it's opened."

"We'll call you after we find Chance," John says only he's looking at me when he says it. For some reason it makes me uncomfortable so I look down at the ground. My cheeks start to feel a little warm.

"Are you ready to run Heidi?" Guthrie asks.

"Yes."

"Good, just run as fast as you can."

"Ok."

Kenny and John say goodbye to us and Guthrie adjusts the shovels and flashlights he's carrying after he puts his BB gun on his shoulder and flings it around so it's resting against his back.

"Run," he says, and that's what I do.

* * *

><p>I can't keep up with Guthrie anymore. He's just too fast for me. Besides, I need to rest. I stop and walk instead of run.<p>

"Come on Heidi! You can't be tired yet, we've only been running for a few minutes."

"I'm too tired, I need a break."

Guthrie waits for me to catch up with him and then he walks with me. "Well, at least walk a little faster than that."

"Guthrie, I'm tired. Maybe I'll try running again in a little bit."

"You know we're going to be late, don't you?"

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I'm just too tired. Can't you just run ahead and tell everyone I hurt my leg so I fell behind?"

"Then they'll go looking for you and I'll have to explain why you're not on the path to the river or the pond."

He's right, they will come looking for me. "Guthrie, how mad do you think they'll be when we come home late?"

"That depends on how late we are."

"How mad do you think Brian's gonna be when he finds out we took our BB guns with us?"

"He's not gonna be as mad about that as he's gonna be that you shot at someone!" Guthrie yells.

Guthrie's right about that too. Brian is the the one who taught us how to shoot. He's kind of the one 'in charge' of our guns and teaching us about shooting and hunting. Not that my other brothers don't teach us, it's just Brian is the main person that teaches us. He talks a lot about never pointing your gun at someone and never shooting someone. Even if it's just a BB gun. He's supposed to start teaching Guthrie how to shoot a shotgun soon, but I'm not sure if he will now.

"Guthrie, do you think Brian will wait before he teaches you how to shoot a shotgun after what happened today?"

"I think he's gonna wait a long time before he teaches _you_ how to shoot a shotgun. I don't think he'll teach you when you're twelve. After today, I don't think he'll let you even _look_ at another gun, let alone 'touch' it."

"You're probably right," I tell him.

Guthrie says, "I don't care if he doesn't want to teach me how to shoot a shotgun right away. I don't want to shoot at anything."

"I know, I don't either. Not unless it was an animal that was going to hurt you. Then I'd shoot it."

"Same here, I guess. If an animal was going to hurt you, I'd shoot it too."

"Maybe I wouldn't really shoot the animal. I think I'd just shoot the shotgun up into the air so I wouldn't hurt the animal, just scare it."

"Yeah, me too."

Neither one of us wants to kill animals. My brothers like to go hunting a lot and we've gone with them before. I'm not allowed to go with them the next time they hunt because the last time they hunted I scared away all the deer. Brian was really mad when I did that, but I just couldn't let them shoot and kill the deer like that.

"Try running again," Guthrie says. "Pretend someone's chasing you. Pretend someone's chasing you with a gun. I know, pretend it's Jeb!"

I start to run and I think about Jeb chasing me. It works for a little while, but then I start feeling tired again and I stop.

"It's no use Guthrie! I just can't do it!"

"It's ok Heidi. Let's just walk. Maybe you'll feel like running in a few minutes."

I'm glad Guthrie said that instead of trying to make me run again. But that's how we get home. Every couple of minutes I'd run, and then the next couple of minutes, I'd walk.

* * *

><p>It's getting dark when we finally make it home. I'm exhausted. That was such a long walk. I know it's past dinnertime without even looking at a clock. "What do we do Guthrie?"<p>

"I don't know yet, let me think of something. Don't open your month and say anything unless I say it's ok."

"You don't have to be so bossy," I tell him. I don't know why, but I feel really cranky. I'm tired and hungry. My stomach is growling.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be bossy, I just want to think of the best excuse that gets us in the least amount of trouble."

We walk down our driveway and Guthrie says, "let's hide our guns behind the bushes." He runs up to the bushes on the side of our driveway and I follow him. I set the box down that I've been holding and take my gun off. We slide them underneath the bush and then walk towards the house again. I shake the box gently.

"I wonder what's in this."

"Quick! Hide it under your shirt! Here comes Daniel!"

I look around and sure enough Daniel is walking out of the barn and when he sees us he starts walking towards us. I put the box under my shirt and hope he won't notice the big bulge it makes. I'm glad it's getting dark, maybe he won't see it. It's also a good thing he didn't see us walking on the driveway.

"Where have you guys been?!" He yells.

"Hey!" I yell back. "Don't yell at us!"

"Where've you been?!" He asks again.

"None of your business!" I yell and I stomp my foot.

"Heidi, be quiet," Guthrie whispers. "You don't want to make him mad."

"He's already mad."

"Then don't make him madder!"

Daniel looks at me and asks, "did you go back to the mine today?"

I stare at him and say nothing because I don't know what to say.

Guthrie says, "no, we went to the pond."

I glare at Daniel. "See, we went to the pond!"

"No you didn't. That's the first place we looked," Daniel says and he glares back at me.

Darn! "Well..., where else did you look?" I ask.

"I'm not telling you until you tell me where you were," he says and I can tell he means it.

"What do I say Guthrie?" I whisper.

"Nothing," he whispers back. Then Guthrie says, "Daniel, we were out by the path that leads up to the high country."

"You're not supposed to go that far," Daniel says.

"I know, I'm sorry. We're late because Heidi twisted her ankle and it's hard for her to walk."

"It is?" I ask and when Guthrie glares at me I say, "oh right, my ankle hurts really bad." I walk a few steps and limp while I do it. "See? It hurts." I also make sure I keep my arms folded across the box hidden underneath my shirt.

"We should let Hannah take a look at it," Daniel says and he scoops me up and cradles me in his arms which is good because I can still keep the box hidden. "Does it hurt bad?" Daniel asks.

"Yes," I lie.

Daniel carries me to the house and Guthrie follows. "You guys never should've went so far away from the house. I bet Adam and Brian are getting ready to go look for you."

That's not good. They usually look for us after everybody else has. "Who's been looking for us besides you?" I ask.

"Evan, Ford, and Crane." He carries me up the porch steps and the front door opens.

Adam and Brian are coming out. "Where have you been?" Adam asks. "Are you ok?"

"Heidi twisted her ankle," Guthrie tells them.

Adam and Brian go back inside and we follow them in. Adam says, "Hannah, come out here. Heidi twisted her ankle."

Hannah comes running into the living room and says, "we were so worried about you. Are you ok?"

I look at her and she doesn't look mad. I look at everyone else and they don't look mad either.

"I'm ok, but it hurts really bad. It's hard to walk," I tell her. "I'm sorry we're late."

Hannah smiles and says, "don't be sorry. You didn't mean to get hurt. Daniel, put her down on the couch."

Daniel walks over to the couch and I say, "wait!"

"What?" Daniel asks.

I whisper, "I have to go to the bathroom."

He smiles at me and then says, "we'll be right back," to everyone else.

Daniel carries me up the stairs and to the bathroom and I think I hear everyone laugh a little bit. Once I'm in there and the door is shut I take the box out from under my shirt and look at it. I look around the bathroom. Where can I hide it? I know! I open the cabinet underneath the sink and kneel down on the floor. I start to put the box in there, but decide I'd better wrap it up in a towel first. I take one of our hand towels and wrap it around the box, and then I put it way in the back behind the bottles of shampoo, lotion and other stuff. There. No one should find it way back there. I close the cabinet door and stand up.

"What's taking so long?" Daniel asks.

I open the bathroom door and Daniel says, "you forgot to flush."

Oops. I flush the toilet and start to walk out of the bathroom, but Daniel says, "aren't you going to wash your hands?"

I look up at him. He looks a little confused.

"Right, I forgot."

"Are you ok? Did you hit your head?"

"No, I just forgot." I wash my hands quickly and then dry them. Daniel picks me up when I limp out of the bathroom and he carries me downstairs. Before we get to the last step the front door opens and Ford and Crane walk in.

"We looked everywhere for them!" Ford says.

"Yeah we...," Crane starts to say something but then says, "you're back! Where have you been?"

He sounds mad and Adam says, "Guthrie said they were near the path that leads to the high country."

Crane says, "that's so far away. You know you're not supposed to go that far."

He sounds mad but I say, "it's ok. I twisted my ankle."

"It's not ok," Adam says and I look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry you hurt your ankle, but you still shouldn't have gone that far," he says.

"Are we in trouble?" I ask.

The front door bursts open and Evan storms in. "I couldn't find them!" He yells. He sees us and then he looks at Guthrie. "Where's Chance?!"

Uh-oh. I look at Guthrie and I can tell he doesn't know what to say. Everyone's looking at him. "Well," he finally says, "he got away."

"What do you mean, he got away?" Adam asks.

"He ran away from us," Guthrie says.

"Why didn't you tie him up?" Evan asks. "You know better than that."

Brian says, "why didn't you tell us sooner? We need to go find him before it gets dark." Brian and Evan start walking to the front door.

"Wait, where are you going?" I ask as Daniel sets me down on the couch.

Evan says, "Chance can't be out there by the high country path at night. It's too dangerous for him."

I feel bad because I'm thinking about where Chance really is. I hope John and Kenny can find him.

"What's that on your neck Guthrie?" Hannah asks.

I forgot about that and so did Guthrie because he looks surprised. "Nothing," he says and he covers the BB mark with his hand.

"Come here and let me look at it," Hannah says.

Guthrie doesn't move at first, but then he walks over to Hannah slowly and lowers his hand.

Hannah looks at the mark. "What's that from? It's almost a perfectly round circle. It looks like a blister. It's so red, does it hurt?"

Guthrie doesn't say anything, he just stares at Hannah. Adam walks over to Guthrie and lifts his chin so he can get a better look. "I know what that is," he says and Guthrie's eyes get big. So do mine. "Come take a look Brian."

Uh-oh. Brian walks over to Guthrie and looks at the mark on his neck. "I know exactly what that is!" Brian looks over at the bookcase and then he looks at me. He looks really, really, mad! I look around the room quickly and then I jump up and run for the kitchen.

"Don't you run from me!" I hear Brian yell.

I'm not stopping. I'm bolting for the back door and I hear Guthrie right behind me yelling, "hurry Heidi! Go!"

Brian yells, "you two get back here! Don't run from me!"

Guthrie squeezes past me and opens the back door. The two of us fly through the doorway and down the back porch steps as fast as we can.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Where do we go?! Where do we go?!" I yell as I run around the house from the back yard to the front yard.

"I don't know!" Guthrie yells. "Either the big oak tree, or the loft!"

The tree is closer so I run to it.

"Don't you climb that tree!" Brian yells from behind us.

I don't stop to see how far away Brian is from us, I run right up to the trunk and start climbing as fast as I can. Guthrie is right next to me. We climb as high as we can and when I reach the top I find a good place to sit and look down at the ground. Brian is at the bottom of the tree standing next to the trunk. He's looking up at us and he looks mad.

"Heidi, he looks so mad," Guthrie says.

"I know."

"Get down here!" Brian yells up to us.

The rest of my brothers are outside now and some of them are standing with Brian.

"I'll take it you didn't really twist your ankle, Heidi," Adam yells up to me.

It's hard to see if he's mad.

"Don't make me climb up there!" Brian yells.

I look at Guthrie and he looks at me. "He wouldn't really climb up here, would he?" I ask, and Guthrie shrugs his shoulders.

"I told you not to touch those BB guns!" Brian yells.

"I didn't!" I yell down to him. Technically that's the truth. Guthrie got them down.

"Heidi," Guthrie starts to say but I interrupt him.

"Guthrie, I already know what you're gonna say, and I'm not going down there!"

"That's not what I was gonna say," he says. "I was gonna say, don't say anything. I'm not going down there either, but you've gotta stop talking. You make people madder sometimes when you talk."

"I don't think Brian could be madder."

"You're wrong about that!" Brian yells up. "I'm coming up!"

I hear Evan laugh and Ford asks, "you're really climbing up there?"

I think I hear Brian say yes, but it's hard to hear. All I know is he's climbing up and I don't know what to do.

"What are you gonna do when you get up there?" Crane asks.

"Brian," Adam says, "what are you doing? You're not going to go up there. Get over here and calm down."

I breathe a sigh of relief because Brian stops climbing and jumps down the few feet he climbed up. Adam puts his hand on his shoulder and says, "calm down. They can't stay up there forever."

"I am," I tell Guthrie.

Evan says, "we have to find Chance. Who's going with me?"

Crane and Daniel say they'll go and Evan calls up to Guthrie, "are you coming? Chance is your horse."

Guthrie looks at me. "What should I do? How can I help look for Chance when I know he's somewhere else? I feel bad for Chance. Should I tell them where he is?"

"No! Then we'll be in worse trouble! I bet Kenny and John found him. I'm sure he's ok."

"What if he's not? What if he's so lost I never see him again?"

"Are you coming Guthrie?" Crane calls up.

I look at Guthrie. I can tell he feels bad and doesn't know what to do. He looks at me and says, "I think I should tell them."

"No! Guthrie you can't!"

"Heidi, we found the diamonds. We can tell them where we've been now."

"Not until we open the box. Please, Guthrie."

I can tell Guthrie's thinking. He finally yells down sadly, "no, I'm not coming."

"Suit yourself," Evan says. "We'll find him for you."

I know that hurts Guthrie and I think he feels worse when Adam says, "I'm disappointed in you Guthrie. Chance is your responsibility. You have..,"

Brian interrupts Adam. "You're talking to him about Chance? What about the BB guns? Don't you think that.."

"Brian," Adam says, "right now we need to find Chance. I'll let you talk to him about the BB guns later." Adam yells up, "Guthrie, you should be out looking for Chance. Come down and help us."

I yell down, "he's not coming down if Brian is there!"

"Heidi, you stay out of this right now," Adam says. "Guthrie come down here."

Guthrie looks at me and I shake my head no at him.

"I have to," he says. "What if that was Lucy that was out there lost?"

I feel sad now. If that was Lucy that was lost, I'd be crying. I'd also go look for her. "Ok," I tell Guthrie, "go look for him."

Guthrie starts to climb down and then he stops and looks at me. "Thanks Heidi. Are you gonna stay up here?"

I nod and he climbs down the tree. I watch Brian to see how he reacts to Guthrie climbing down. I think he's mad..., I _know_ he's still mad, but just _how_ mad? Guthrie jumps down the final few feet and looks up at Brian.

"I'm sorry for taking the guns down Brian."

"I'll talk to you about that later. Go find Chance," Brian says. He's not happy, but he's a lot calmer than he was earlier.

Guthrie walks off with Evan and everyone else follows them. Everyone except for Brian. He looks up at me. "You can't stay up there forever!" He yells.

"Yes I can!"

"I told you NOT to touch those guns!" He yells, "and don't tell me you didn't touch them, because I know you did!" He's pacing. Adam does that sometimes when he's mad, or when he's thinking really hard.

"We needed them!" I yell.

"No you didn't! You're not supposed to aim that thing at anybody! Now you've shot two people! Don't even try to tell me that BB gun mark on Guthrie's neck didn't come from you!"

"It was an accident!"

"Shooting someone isn't an accident! You can't shoot someone if you don't point the gun at them!"

"I wasn't pointing it at Guthrie!"

"Heidi, don't lie to me! Your aim is good! If you aim at something, you're not gonna miss! I know that! Now get down here so we can talk!"

"No way! You don't want to talk! You're gonna spank me!"

"You're darn right I am! I told you what would happen if you ever pointed that gun at someone! I gave you the benefit of the doubt the other night because you were scared. But I see now that was the wrong thing to do!" He yells some other stuff, but I'm not listening anymore.

I remember when Brian gave me my BB gun. I was six. For the first few years I was only allowed to use it around him, or Adam, or Crane. Brian taught me everything about shooting, aiming, all kinds of stuff, but the most important lesson he taught me was to never point my gun at a person. He taught me that even though my BB gun wasn't a 'real' gun, I still needed to treat it like it was. When you live on a ranch, guns are important. He said lots of kids play with toy guns, and play Cowboys and Indians, or cops and robbers, but ranch kids don't. Ranch kids learn at an early age that guns aren't toys. I grew up learning to never, ever, touch one of my brothers' shotguns. I never have. I also grew up learning not to point my BB gun at people too, but that rule was harder to learn. Brian would swat me every time I did it when I was little. Eventually, as I grew older, I stopped pointing it at people except for some times, and then Brian or Adam would take my gun away from me for a while. But I never, ever, shot a person before. Not until I shot Brian the other night. I think about something though...

"Hey!" I yell down to Brian. "_You_ point your shotgun at people! I've seen you do it before!"

"We're not talking about me!"

"Who cares! If you and Adam and everybody else gets to point your guns at people, then why can't I?!"

"God dammit Heidi!" Brian yells. I think I just made him madder. "You know the answer to that! Get down here now!"

"No! I'm staying up here! And I can stay up here all night!"

Brian stops yelling and glares up at me. I can tell he's really mad and he starts yelling again. I sigh and close my eyes. There is no way I'm coming down.

* * *

><p>I can't stay up here forever. I'm cold and hungry. I don't know how long I've been up here for. It's dark and cold and my body aches. The branches are hard to sit on. I've moved around to different spots to try to get comfortable, but my body's too sore now. Besides, I have to go to the bathroom. Brian has been quiet for a while now. I look down at him. He's sitting on the ground leaning against the big tree trunk. I wonder if he's asleep.<p>

"Brian?" I call down. He doesn't answer me so I guess he must be sleeping. Maybe I can sneak by him. I start climbing down. All I have to do is jump down when I'm close to the ground and run as fast as I can. When I'm halfway down the tree I look down at him and see him watching me. Darn. I stop climbing. "Brian?" I call down.

"What?"

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Just come down."

"Brian, I'm cold. I'm hungry too."

"Come down so we can go inside," he says. He stands up and looks up at me.

"Are you still mad?" I ask again.

"Just come down and we'll go inside to talk."

"Just to talk?"

"Will you just come down?"

I can tell he's starting to get mad and I'm not sure if I should climb down, or climb back up, but I have to go to the bathroom really bad now, so I decide to climb down. When I get close to the ground I stop climbing and say, "Brian, I have to go to the bathroom."

"Then climb down and go inside."

I finish climbing down and then I run to the house. Not to get away from Brian, but because I really have to go now! I look behind me and Brian is following, except he's not running, he's walking.

When I run inside the house I stop for a second to look at Adam and Hannah on the couch. Then I run upstairs to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>When I'm done going to the bathroom and I'm done washing my hands, I don't know what to do. Should I go to my room? Should I stay in here longer? Is Brian waiting out in the hall? Should I take the box out from underneath the sink and bring it to my room? Yes, that's what I should do.<p>

I kneel down on the floor and open the cabinet under the sink. The box wrapped up in the towel is still in the back corner and I reach in and take it out. I think I'll keep it wrapped up in the towel for now. I stand up and hide the box under my shirt. As soon as I get into my room, I'll hide it under my bed. I put my ear against the door to see if I can hear anyone talking. I hear voices, except I can't hear what they're saying, so I open the door a tiny bit.

"I don't know if I should," I hear Brian say.

"I know," Adam says, "it's hard."

I wonder what's hard?

"I'm not mad anymore," Brian says.

"That's good," Hannah says. "That's important. You should never be mad when you.."

I shut the door. I know what they're talking about. What do I do? I can't run downstairs and run outside, Brian will catch me at the bottom of the staircase. Maybe I'd better listen some more. I open the door a crack.

"I don't want to do it," Brian says.

"Well, I'm not going to do it for you," Adam says.

"Why can't you?" Brian asks.

Hannah says, "Brian, it needs to be you."

It's quiet now. Then Brian says, "I know. It's just..., this would be so much easier if I was still mad at her."

Adam laughs a little and says, "sometimes Heidi tells me it would be so much easier for her if I just yelled at her so she could just yell back." It's quiet again and then Adam says, "I know it's hard Brian, but you know it has to be done."

Brian sighs. "I know. It's just easier if 'you're' the bad guy instead of me."

"You're not the bad guy," Hannah says. "She knew the consequences when she shot you, and now, Guthrie. It's just too bad you didn't get to talk to her this morning about that last night."

"I still can't believe she took her gun," Brian says. "Guthrie too."

"I know," Adam says. "I'm having a hard time with that one. Why would they feel they _needed_ their guns? I have a feeling they're up to something. I don't know what it is, but something hasn't been right with those two the past couple of days. I just haven't had time to talk to them about it."

"We'll have to make time tonight to talk to both of them," Hannah says. "Hopefully they'll find Chance soon, and then Heidi and Guthrie can have some dinner, and then we'll talk."

"Don't forget to talk to Guthrie about the guns too," Adam says.

"That's going to be tough too. I'm getting ready to teach him to shoot a shotgun and he pulls a stunt like this," Brian says.

"This isn't like him," Adam says.

"I know," Brian says. "Maybe there's something we don't know. Maybe they had a good reason for taking the guns."

"A good reason for shooting Guthrie?" Hannah asks.

Brian sighs. "I don't know."

"Brian," Adam says, "they know they can always talk to us. Guthrie knows it and so does Heidi. Talk to them and find out why they took the guns. Maybe there's a good explanation, but just remember, Guthrie could've been seriously hurt with that BB gun today."

"I know. I just can't figure out why she would shoot Guthrie," Brian says. "It just doesn't make any sense."

Adam says, "I know. It's Heidi though. Sometimes she does things without thinking and it gets her into trouble. This time it involved Guthrie, and what could've been a very serious injury."

Hannah says, "I've heard BBs can blind you if you get shot in the eye."

"That's true," Brian says. "I guess I'd better go upstairs and talk to her. I'm not looking forward to this."

"I know the feeling," Adam says. "I never understood the phrase, "this hurts me more than it hurts you," until I became a parent. It's a tough job, but you can do it Brian."

I close the bathroom door. I guess I have to come out now. I hug the box under my shirt close to my chest. I hear footsteps walking up the stairs and my stomach starts to feel funny. Not sick funny, but nervous funny. I open the bathroom door and keep my head down as I walk down the hallway to my bedroom. Once I'm there I take the box out and get down on the floor and shove the box under my bed. Then I get up and wait for Brian.

* * *

><p>Brian's been staring at the floor for a while now. He's sitting on my wooden chair in the middle of my small room, and I'm standing in front of him leaning against the bed a little, while I wait for him to start talking. I feel so bad. I know I disappointed Brian. He looks so hurt. I've never taken my gun back before when he's taken it away from me. I've thought about it, but I've never done it. And now I shot Guthrie. I shot Guthrie <em>and<em> Brian. Why did I do that? I sigh and Brian looks at me.

"Heidi, why'd you take your gun?"

"I needed it."

"For what?"

I stare at him. I can't answer that.

"Heidi, what could you possibly need your gun for that would make you disobey me?"

My eyes start to water. "I just needed it."

"You can't tell me why?"

I shake my head no and Brian looks disappointed. A tear rolls down my cheek and when I blink, two more fall. I know Brian doesn't like it when I cry, but I can't help it. I feel so sad that I disappointed him. I wish he would just yell at me. Then I could be mad and yell back.

"Why did you shoot Guthrie?"

"It was an accident."

"You're not six anymore Heidi, that was no accident. You know the rules when shooting. Always be aware of your surroundings. I taught you everything, and I would never let you have a gun, a BB gun, if I wasn't damn sure you would follow the rules. 'All' the rules. You shot me last night. As far as I know, you've never shot anyone before. Is that right?"

I don't know if I should answer yes or no. Is it, "no, I never shot anyone," or is it "yes, I never shot anyone?" I don't know what to say so I look down at the floor.

"I took your gun away," Brian says. "I wanted to talk to you today about what happened last night, but I never got the chance. I can't believe you took your gun down from that bookcase."

I keep my head down and wipe my cheeks with my hands because the tears are rolling down my cheeks fast now. I wipe my nose too because it's stuffed up. It gets that way sometimes when I cry. I feel Brian's hand on my shoulder.

"I told you what would happen if you ever shot someone. I know it was a long time ago, but you're old enough to remember. Heidi, I don't want to have to spank you...,"

"Then don't!" I cry and I look up at him. "I'm sorry Brian! I'm really sorry! I'll never do anything like that again! I'll never shoot someone or point my gun at someone ever again, and I'll never take my gun back if you take it away from me either!" I cover my face with my hands now and cry into them. "I promise Brian! Im sorry! Im really, really sorry!"

He hugs me. I cry hard and he wraps me up in his big arms and hugs me tight. He kisses the top of my head and I hear him whisper, "I know. I know you're sorry."

When I calm down a little he stops hugging me and holds me out away from him a little bit so he can look into my eyes.

"Heidi, I'm going to spank you now."

I stare at him as tears start rolling down my cheeks again.

"You hurt Guthrie today, and even though this may hurt you right now, it's nothing compared to the hurt you would feel if you had hurt him seriously."

I don't understand that.

"If you had blinded him, or shot him in his ear and he was..., well, you know all the dangerous consequences of shooting someone with a BB gun, including death. If you had seriously hurt Guthrie, you would feel so much worse than this spanking is going to feel right now."

He stares at me and I stare back at him. Then he lifts me up a little and lays me across his lap. I start crying before he even starts spanking me. I feel so bad I hurt him that I don't even feel the spanks at first, but then I start to, and it hurts. It hurts a lot and I cry out loud. I try to get away, but he's holding me tightly so I can't. The last two spanks are the hardest and when he's done, he lifts me up and hugs me and I hug him back tightly. I lay my head on his shoulder and cry while he rubs my back.

"I'm sorry Brian!" I say over and over while he hugs me.

"I know," he says. "I know." He keeps rubbing my back and says, "when you're done eating dinner, I want you to bring me your BB gun."

"Ok. I'm sorry Brian," I cry.

"I know."

Brian keeps hugging me and then I realize he's rocking me back and forth and it feels nice. I don't know how long he's been holding me for until I finally stop crying and calm down, but I know he's held me and rocked me the whole time.

"I love you, Heidi," he says to me when I'm done crying.

I look at him and he smoothes my hair back. "I love you too, Brian."

Brian stands up with me and says, "I bet you're hungry." I nod my head. "Are you ready to go downstairs now?"

I wipe my eyes and my cheeks with my hands and then my nose with my sleeve while Brian smiles at me. "I won't tell Hannah you just used your sleeve to wipe your nose," he says.

I smile at him and he sets me down. Brian opens my door and the two of us walk out of my room. Adam and Hannah are sitting on the couch and they stand up when we walk out.

"Are you hungry Heidi?" Hannah asks.

"Yes."

"I'll warm up some dinner for you."

Hannah walks into the kitchen and when I get to the bottom of the stairs I walk past Adam on my way to the kitchen.

Brian asks, "did they find Chance yet?"

"No," Adam says. "They're not back yet."

I look behind me before going into the kitchen and I see Adam put his hand on Brian's shoulder. The two of them look..., I don't know, they don't look mad, or disappointed, or..., I'm not sure what their face looks like right now.

Hannah calls to me from over by the stove. "Do you want a drumstick or thigh Heidi?"

"Drumstick please." I walk over to my chair at the table and start to sit down. It feels uncomfortable to sit at first, but it's not too bad and soon I don't feel anything. When Hannah hands me my plate she smiles at me and I look at her and all of a sudden I feel shy. I look down at the plate of food sitting in front of me. "Thank you Hannah," I say quietly. I don't feel like eating now. I'm not sure why.

"What's wrong?" Hannah asks as she sits down in the chair next to me.

I shrug my shoulders as I stare down at my food. I feel her hand on my back as she rubs it.

"It's ok Heidi," she says.

"Did..., did you hear?"

"Yes. I love you Heidi." She takes her hand and lifts my chin up so she can look into my eyes. "It's ok Heidi. Are you embarrassed?"

"I think so."

She smiles. "You don't have to be. I love you so much." She gives me a hug and I hug her back. She feels warm and she smells nice. Like the pretty purple flowers she grows by the back porch.

I feel better now so I stop hugging her and start shoveling food into my mouth as fast as a can chew it.

She laughs. "Slow down. You're going to make yourself sick." She gets up. "I'll get you a glass of milk. Maybe when you're done eating Adam and I can have a talk with you."

I nod my head so I don't have to stop eating to talk. Hannah must know that because she ruffles up my hair on her way over to the refrigerator and says, "that's ok, you don't need to talk right now. Finish eating, talking can wait."

That sounds good to me as I put another bite of mashed potatoes into my mouth.

When I'm done eating Hannah carries my dishes over to the sink and starts to wash them. I ask if she wants help, but she says no so I walk into the living room.

Adam is sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. I walk over to him and sit next to him. I lean against him. I just want him to hold me right now. I don't know why, I just feel like that. He puts the newspaper down and puts his arm around me. I turn towards him and reach up to wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself up so I can rest my head on his shoulder. He hugs me and I yawn and close my eyes. I like the feeling of him hugging me. It feels like he loves me. Adam starts rocking me back and forth a little bit while he rubs my back. I keep my eyes closed and listen to the song Brian is playing on his harmonica out on the front porch. It's a song I know and I think Adam is singing the words to me but I can't really tell because I fall asleep.

* * *

><p>I jump when I hear the telephone ring and Adam whispers, "it's ok." He's still hugging me and my arms are still wrapped around his neck. "You've been asleep," Adam says.<p>

I look around. Hannah was sitting next to us, but she gets up to answer the phone.

"Hello."

I look at her while she listens.

"Can I take a message? She's asleep." Hannah looks over at me and says, "oh wait, I think she's awake."

I yawn. "Who is it?" I ask.

Hannah covers the receiver with her hand and says, "it's John."

"What does he want?" Adam asks.

I'm glad he asked, because I'm too shocked to move.

Hannah says, "he wants Heidi to know they found him."

I let go of Adam and sit back a little so I can stare at Hannah. I'm awake now. Wide awake.

Adam asks, "found who?" He looks at Hannah and then he looks at me because Hannah shrugs her shoulders and says, "he hung up."

"I don't know what he's talking about. Maybe it's a prank call," I tell him.

I can tell he doesn't believe me, but I don't care. That's all I'm saying. And that's all I have to say because the front door opens and Brian walks in.

"They're back, and they didn't find Chance," he says.

"Oh, that's so sad," Hannah says. "Guthrie must be heartbroken." She walks into the kitchen. "And starving."

I move off Adam so I'm sitting on the couch and I look at the front door and watch my brothers come inside. They all look sad. Especially Guthrie and Evan. Evan loves all our horses as if they were his very own. " We couldn't find her," he says and he slumps down in the big comfy chair.

"We'll try again in the morning," Crane says.

"He'll probably be waiting near the barn in the morning ready to eat," Daniel says.

"Guthrie," Hannah calls from the kitchen, "come eat some dinner."

I look at Guthrie and he looks very sad so I get up and follow him into the kitchen. I get up close to him and whisper, "they found him."

Guthrie looks at me and mouths, "Chance?"

I nod my head and Guthrie smiles. Then he starts to cry and Hannah rushes over to hug him. Why's he crying?

"It's ok Guthrie," Hannah says. "I'm sure Chance will show up in the morning."

"I know Hannah," he says, "I'm just so tired. It's been a long day."

"Come sit down and eat. You'll feel better once you've done that," Hannah says and she guides Guthrie over to his spot at the table. "Heidi, will you pour him a glass of milk?"

I hurry to the cupboard to get a glass down and then I get the milk out of the refrigerator. After I pour the milk, Hannah takes the glass from me and gives it to Guthrie. Ford walks in and right up to me. He takes me by the arm and pulls me into the living room.

Hannah yells out, "don't go too far Heidi. Adam and I want to talk to you as soon as Guthrie's finished eating. Ok?"

I don't get a chance to answer her because Evan is standing by the front door and he opens it and Ford pulls me outside and out onto the front porch where Daniel is waiting for us.

"Where did you go today?" Daniel asks. "And don't say you were by the path that goes to the high country because we know you weren't there."

"Yes we were!"

"No, you weren't!" Evan yells and he sounds mad.

I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. "How do you know?"

"Because Chance wasn't there!" Evan yells.

"So! Maybe he..,"

"Enough!" Daniel says. He kneels down in front of me and says, "we asked Guthrie to show us where you were digging and he couldn't. Did you go back to the mine?"

I stare at him and don't answer.

"I knew it!" Evan yells.

"Evan!" Daniel says, "calm down."

"Fine, where's Chance?" He asks.

"You don't have to worry about Chance," I tell them. "He's safe."

"What does that mean?" Ford asks.

"I can't tell you. Just trust me, he's safe."

"I've had enough of this," Evan says, "I'm telling."

As Evan walks by me to go inside I pull on his arm to stop him. "No don't! I'm telling the truth! Chance is safe!"

"What's going on Heidi?" Daniel asks.

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Ford asks.

"I just can't."

"You gotta do better than that," Daniel says.

I stare at the three of them. Should I tell them? Maybe..., "what if I told you we found something today."

"What?" Evan asks.

"It's a secret. I can't tell you. _Yet_." I hope that helps.

"Come on Heidi," Daniel says, "you have to tell us more. You promised you wouldn't go back there."

"I know, but you guys just have to trust me. Pretty soon I'll be able to tell you everything. Just not yet."

"Just promise me you're not going to the mine," Daniel says.

I look at him. I don't want to lie to him, but I guess I already did. "I promise. I'm not going to the mine."

Daniel's eyes look sad when I say that so I look away.

"Tell me where Chance is," Evan says.

"I can't."

"You _have_ to," he says. "I need to know."

The front door opens and Adam says, "Heidi I want to talk to you."

"Ok!" And before Evan can ask another question, I run inside and into the kitchen where Guthrie and Hannah are.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean, you can't tell us?" Adam asks.<p>

"It's a secret," I tell him for the probably the fifth time.

I think he's getting frustrated because he says, "will you stop saying that!"

Hannah puts her hand on his arm and he looks at her.

"Heidi," she says, "why is this place so secret?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?!" Adam yells. He looks at Guthrie. "Well?!" When Guthrie doesn't say anything Adam says, "look Guthrie, I want to know where you're going that you feel you _need_ to have your BB guns with you." Adam looks at me. "Is this where you saw Jeb?"

"I thought you said Jeb wasn't real," I say to him.

Now he's mad. "Heidi, you be quiet while I talk to Guthrie!" He looks at Guthrie and asks, "why did you need your guns today?"

"Heidi was scared."

"Of what?"

"Of this Jeb ghost person thing."

"But Guthrie, you know Jeb isn't real. You know you don't need guns for protection from a ghost."

"But he's real to Heidi," Guthrie says.

"Then why do you go there if she's scared?"

"Because there's something there," Guthrie says.

"What?"

"Treasure."

"On our ranch? What makes you think there's treasure on our ranch?"

"We just know," I tell him. "And we don't want to tell you where it is because we want you to be surprised."

Hannah says, "Adam, I think they want to help out with money."

"She's right," Guthrie says. "If we tell you where the treasure is you guys will want to find it. _We_ want to find it and surprise you."

"But I don't want you to worry about the money," Adam says.

"But they see you worried about it," Hannah says. "They see all of us worry about it. You can't hide it from them anymore."

"I know the truck windshield cost five hundred dollars," I tell Adam.

He looks shocked and so does Hannah. "How do you know that?" She asks.

"You weren't eavesdropping again, were you?" Adam asks.

I glare at him. "I don't eavesdrop all the time! Sometimes I just hear things! You guys talk about things all the time and sometimes I listen. Most of the time I don't, but sometimes I do."

Hannah smiles when I say that.

"I heard you talking to Crane about it and I also know that working on Mr. Wilson's ranch for the rest of the weekends this month isn't gonna pay for it. It's not even gonna come close to paying for it."

Adam looks at me and he looks tired. "You're right, it won't, but you let me worry about the rest of it."

"But that's why we want to find the buried treasure," Guthrie says. "We're good at finding that."

Adam sighs. "Ok." Then he points his finger at us and says in his really serious voice, "but no more guns."

I shake my head no really fast and say, "no, I'm not brining my gun ever again!"

Hannah laughs and Adam smiles and says, "good, I'm glad to hear that."

"Me too!" Guthrie says and he rubs his neck and then we all laugh. I give Adam a big hug and then Guthrie hugs him and then Hannah hugs him so we're all four in a huge hug.

"Alright!" Adam says. "Enough. It's time for bed. You've had a long day and I know you're tired. Guthrie, Brian still needs to talk to you about the guns. Get ready for bed and I'll send him up."

"Ok." Guthrie doesn't sound worried about talking to Brian. I wonder why. I'd be worried if I was him.

As soon as we're out of the kitchen and in the living room Guthrie stops me and whispers "where's the box?"

"Under my bed."

"I'll be in your room in a little bit. I found a tool in the barn that might open the lock."

I stare at Guthrie while he runs up the stairs and down the hall to his room. We're gonna open the box and see the diamonds!

* * *

><p>"What kind of tool is that?" I ask Guthrie while I watch him try to break the lock on the box.<p>

"I don't know, it just looked like something that would work." The tool he's using looks like a big wrench. He's squeezing the lock with it and I think it actually might work. "I think if I just squeeze hard enough, the lock will break. We already got it loosened up when we banged it against the rock today."

Guthrie squeezes hard. He rests the wrench on the floor with it still squeezing the look and then he pushes down on the wrench with his hands using his whole body. Kind of like when people give CPR. He presses so hard his face is turning pink and then red.

"Are you ok Guthrie?"

He grunts and all of a sudden the lock breaks and Guthrie's arms collapse and he falls face first onto the floor. I laugh but only for a little bit. "You did it!"

He sits up and we both stare at the box. The lock has broken free and is lying on the floor.

"Open it!" I yell.

"Sh! Not so loud. Remember, we're supposed to be getting ready for bed."

"Right," I whisper. I stare at the box. "Open it," I whisper.

I watch Guthrie carefully and slowly open the lid of the box. There's a piece of paper inside. Guthrie takes it out. It's a folded piece of paper and underneath it are some gold keys. "Are those keys?" I ask.

Guthrie picks one up. "Yes. There's..., five! Five gold keys."

"What do you think they're for?"

"I don't know. Let's see what this is." Guthrie starts unfolding the paper. "It's...," he turns the paper around. "It's...," he looks at it closely.

"What is it?!"

"It's..., it's a treasure map!"

"For the diamonds? We found a map for the diamonds?" I ask.

"I don't know," he says while he stares at the map. "I think so. Look," he points to some drawings. "I think that's Jeb's cabin..., and that's the mine. Look, they're are six X's."

I look at the map and sure enough there are six X's marked on it. "But there's only five keys."

"This box was buried near an X. This must be one of the X's."

Guthrie lays the map down on my floor and smoothes it out. "I can't believe this Heidi! We're going to be rich!"

"I know! Just wait until we tell John and Kenny about this! We're all gonna be rich!"

"Someone's coming!" Guthrie quickly folds the treasure map up and shoves it and the little box under my bed. "Don't let anyone find that!"

"I won't."

Before Guthrie leaves he says, "just think Heidi, everyone's going to be so happy we found this!"

"I know!"

"Goodnight!"

"Goodnight Guthrie!"

He closes my door after he leaves and even though I know I'm supposed to be putting my pajamas on, I can't, because I can't stop thinking about what's under my bed. I am so excited! I can't wait to tell everyone what we found!


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update.**

**Thank you for the reviews! I really love readi****ng them! It's nice to know people like the story and they help motivate me to ****write more.**

* * *

><p>I hold up one of the little gold keys to look at it closely. It's so tiny. Much tinier than our key to the front door. It's bigger than a diary key. I wonder what it unlocks. Maybe it fits the little gold lock that was keeping the wooden box closed. I reach under my bed and feel around for the lock. It's pretty smashed up on the outside, but not where the key goes inside.<p>

I try to put the key in the lock, but it won't go in. It's the right size and the same color as the lock, but it doesn't fit. I wonder what it goes to? I drop it when someone knocks on my door.

"Heidi, are you ready for bed?" I hear Adam ask.

I shove the lock and the keys back under my bed and quickly get up and run over to the door to open it.

"What?" I ask.

"How come your pajamas aren't on?" He asks.

I look down at my clothes and then back up at Adam.

Then Adam asks, "did you brush your teeth?" I shake my head no. "What have you been doing?"

I stare at him. I don't know what to say. Luckily I don't have to answer because he says, "quit fooling around and get ready for bed," and then he walks down the hall to the boys room.

I run to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I'm so happy! I find my toothbrush and squeeze some toothpaste on it. I wonder what the keys are for! I bet they're for little boxes full of diamonds! We'll be so rich! Then I can pay for the truck window I broke, plus they'll be lots of money leftover to buy a color tv, maybe a big one like my friend, Denise, has. I could by new cowgirl boots, I bet I could buy two pair! One to wear in rodeos, and another pair for parades, a fancy pair with purple rhinestones all over them! I could buy...

Brian walks by the bathroom so I step out into the hallway to see where he's going. He's walking down to the boys room. I bet he's going to talk to Guthrie about the BB guns. I wonder if Guthrie is in trouble too. I guess he is because he took the guns down too. When Brian walks into the room, Evan leaves the boys' room and walks down the hall. He stops when he gets to me.

"Where's Chance?" He asks.

I stare up at him and put my toothbrush back in my mouth and start brushing.

"That's ok," he says, "I can wait."

I stare at him as I close the bathroom door and shut it.

"Heidi," he says through the door, "I'm still going to be out here when you're done."

I lock the bathroom door.

"You can't stay in there forever," he says.

I finish brushing my teeth and then I don't know what to do. I don't want to talk to Evan. I don't know what to say to him. Maybe if I wash my hands for a super long time he'll leave. I turn the water on and put my hands underneath the faucet. The water is cold. I wonder how long it would take for the water to get hot if I turned the cold water off. Hopefully a long time. I do that and wait for the water to get hot. After a while it's so hot I can see the steam from it and if I put my fingers close to it I can feel the warmth. I turn the cold water back on and wait for the water to be warm. Then I wash my hands. I take a long time and then I take an even longer time to dry them. When I'm done I look at the door. Maybe Evan's not out there anymore. I unlock the door and open it just a little bit to peek out. He is! I shut the door again and lock it.

"Heidi," Evan says, "if Chance isn't by the barn in the morning, some of us are going to have to go look for him. We'll be wasting our time when we have other things to do."

I didn't think about that.

"You said he was safe. You know where he is, so just tell me."

I'm not sure if I should, but when he asks, "is Chance going to be by the barn in the morning?" I open the door.

"No."

"Then what are you going to do? Are you going to keep lying and make some of us waste our day looking for Chance when you know we won't find him?"

I feel bad now. "No."

"Then where is he?"

"Evan, I don't want to get in trouble. I don't know what to do." I feel like crying. If they look for Chance tomorrow they're never gonna find him.

"Tell me where he is. You said he's safe, how do you know that?"

"He is safe. I don't know how to get him back though."

"What does that mean?"

"He's somewhere else and I don't know how to get him."

"Is he on our ranch?"

"No."

"Then where is he? And how do you know he's safe? Heidi, I'm worried about Chance."

I can tell he is. He looks kind of sad. "Evan, you don't have to worry, but I really don't know how to get him back home."

"Tell me where he is. Maybe I can help figure out how to get him."

I look up at Evan. I don't know if I should tell him, but he looks upset. "If I tell you where he is, are you going to tell on me?"

"I don't know. That depends on where he is. Heidi, if he's not going to show up on our ranch tomorrow, and you don't know how to get him, you have to tell someone."

"He's on John's ranch," I tell him and then I stare at him to see what he thinks about that.

"The John that's been calling here?" I nod my head and he says, "why is he on John's ranch?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"You do too know. Why is he there Heidi?"

"Please don't make me tell you. Can't you just help me figure out how to get him back home?" Tears start to form in my eyes while I'm looking at him. "Please?"

Evan sighs and shakes his head. "Ok. I guess I could hitch the horse trailer up to the truck in the morning and go get him."

"You can?" I smile up at him. "Without anyone knowing?"

"I can try, but that's gonna be hard to do."

"You could say..."

"I'm not going to lie. I'll get him, but if someone asks me what I'm doing, I'm going to tell them."

"But then I'll get in trouble!"

"You might, but if you're not going to tell me how Chance got on John's ranch, there's really nothing I can say. You and Guthrie have to come with me too." Evan looks like he's starting to get mad. "I'm really mad you guys let Chance get away from you."

"It wasn't our fault!"

"What does that mean? Horses don't just walk away when they're being taken care of the right way. Chance.."

"We did take care of him the right way!"

"Then how could he wander away? You have to tie.."

"We did tie him up!"

"Then how'd he get away? I think you're lying and the two of you were careless and..."

"We weren't! Someone untied him!"

"Who? Who would do that?"

I don't know what to say. If I tell him who, he'll know where we were and he already said he would tell on me if we went back to the mine.

"Who Heidi?"

"I can't tell you!" I cry. "Evan please! Can't you just believe me when I tell you we weren't careless with Chance? Please?" I cry really hard now and Evan hugs me.

"Ok, I guess I don't need to know how. As long as you're sure Chance is safe and he'll be on John's ranch tomorrow, I don't need to know."

"Thanks Evan."

"But I'm not going to lie for you. If anyone asks where we're going, I'm telling them."

"Do you think we'll be able to leave without anyone knowing?"

"I don't know, we can try."

Hannah walks up and says, "what's going on here? Why are you crying?"

I wipe my eyes and say, "I'm not anymore."

"It's time for you to go to bed," Hannah says. "You're not even dressed yet."

I smile up at Evan and then follow Hannah to my bedroom.

"Where's Adam?" I ask as I walk in and over to my dresser to get my pajamas.

"He's still talking to Guthrie." Hannah shuts my bedroom door and then walks over to my dresser and looks through the pile of books on top of it while I get changed.

Once I'm in bed Hannah sits on my bed and shows me the new book she checked out at the library. "This is Black Beauty and I really think you're going to like it."

I look at the picture of the horse on the cover. I love books about horses, but this one is different than the books Hannah's been checking out for me. This book is a chapter book, like the ones we read in school now. "Are there any pictures?" I ask.

"There's a few..."

"I don't know Hannah, is this gonna be like the books I read in school? Those are books without pictures and they're really boring."

"I think you're really going to like this book. The horse is telling the story."

"What?"

"Lay down and I'll start reading. This is a book my mom read to me when I was about your age."

I lay my head on my pillow and look up at Hannah as she opens the book and starts to read. I guess it couldn't hurt to listen. After the first page I realize Hannah is right, I do like the story. The only problem is, I'm so tired from today that I'm having a hard time listening because my eyes keep shutting. I can't keep them open anymore. I hear her reading, but I don't know what she's saying. Then I hear her say goodnight and I feel her kiss my forehead. I turn onto my side and fall asleep.

* * *

><p>Evan wakes me up early in the morning. Too early. I groan and look at my clock. "It's six thirty Evan!"<p>

"I know. I want to go now. I've got rodeo school today plus chores to do before that. This is when I can go. Guthrie's up and getting dressed. Meet me downstairs as soon as you're ready."

When he leaves I get up slowly and stretch. My stomach hurts a little because I'm nervous. I hope everyone else is either sleeping or busy out on the ranch far, far, away. I get dressed and meet Guthrie out in the hallway.

"I hope no one sees us doing this," I tell him.

"Me too. I don't want to get in trouble for this."

"Me either." We walk down the stairs together and I ask, "did Brian talk to you about the BB guns last night?"

"Yes."

"Did you get in trouble?"

He's quiet for a little bit and then says, "yes."

He doesn't say anything else and we walk outside together in silence. Evan is hooking the horse trailer up to the truck and luckily I don't see anyone else around. While we walk over to the truck I ask Guthrie, "did you get grounded?"

"Sort of."

"What does that mean? How do you sort of get grounded?"

"I'll tell you later," he says because now we're at the truck.

We help Evan finish booking up the trailer. Actually, Guthrie helps and I watch. Once it's hitched I climb into the truck and scoot all the way over to the middle. Guthrie gets in next to me and Evan gets in on the driver's side. He starts the truck and we drive down the driveway to the road. I look everywhere to see if any of my brothers are around to see us leave. I don't see anyone, so that's good. Hopefully it will be the same when we get back.

* * *

><p>When we pull into the driveway of John's ranch Evan drives over to the barn. John's dad is out there and he sees us coming. He meets us at the truck when we pull up.<p>

John's dad smiles and says, "it seems we have a horse that belongs to you," he says as he shakes Evan's hand.

"That's what I hear," Evan says and he walks to the barn with John's dad.

Guthrie and I start to follow, but I hear John calling my name so I turn around. Guthrie walks with Evan and I wait for John to come running up.

"I heard your truck so I came out to see if you were here," he says when he reaches me.

I look at him carefully. I think he just woke up because his shirt isn't tucked all the way in and his hair looks messy. Like my brothers' hair when they wake up.

"Did you guys make it home in time? Did you get in trouble?"

I ignore that question. "Guess what! We opened the box! There was a treasure map and five little gold keys inside of it!"

John smiles and he looks really excited. "Really?!"

"Yes! The map has six X's on it! I bet there's more boxes buried and I bet they have diamonds in them!"

"I bet you're right! Are you guys going to meet us at the mine today?"

"Yes, we'll bring the map and keys with us. I can't wait to start digging!"

"Start digging where?" Evan asks. I turn around and Evan, Guthrie, John's dad and Chance are walking up to us. Guthrie's leading Chance by a rope and Evan is carrying the saddle.

"That's what I'd like to know," John's dad says.

I look at John and he looks a little nervous. "I told you dad, on the McFadden's ranch."

"Is that what the kids are telling you Evan?" John's dad asks. "I guess they wouldn't be telling you. Are they telling Adam that?"

"That's what I hear."

"I'm not sure if I'm hearing the whole story," John's dad says.

"Dad! You're embarrassing me!"

I look at John and he looks at me. He does look embarrassed. I wonder why. He follows us to our trailer and Guthrie leads Chance around it and Evan helps him put Chance inside and tie him to the bar. They close the back of the trailer and Evan says, "thanks for keeping Chance."

"Yes, thank you," Guthrie says.

"No problem. I'm still not clear on the details of how Chance ended up here, but I'm glad we could help out."

We all say goodbye and get in the truck. Evan starts the truck up. Now we just have to get Chance home with nobody seeing us.

* * *

><p>When we pull into our driveway Guthrie asks Evan to stop. "Can we take Chance out so I can ride him to the barn?" He asks. "That way it'll look like he's been on the ranch."<p>

"I don't know," Evan says.

"Please?" I ask him. "Please Evan?"

"Alright, I guess so." He stops the truck and we all get out. Evan opens the back of the trailer and unites Chance. He leads her out and helps Guthrie with the saddle. He helps Guthrie get up and then he helps me get up behind Guthrie. "You two are on your own now. I've got to do my chores before I get Diablo in the back of this trailer."

"Thanks Evan," we both say as he gets back into the truck.

Evan drives away and Guthrie rides Chance down the driveway so we can get her to the barn, hopefully before anyone can see us.

"Guthrie, what do you think the tiny keys go to?"

"Boxes like the one we found. I bet there's diamonds in them too!"

"I can't wait to go find them! We're gonna be rich! We could buy.."

"Here comes Crane," Guthrie says. He sounds nervous. I feel nervous. I hope Crane doesn't ask a lot of questions. "Heidi," Guthrie says, "let 'me' do the talking."

Crane rides up and immediately asks where we found Chance.

"I was just going to go look for Chance. Where'd you find him?" He rides with us on our way to the barn.

"We found him by the big oak tree," Guthrie tells him.

Please let Crane believe that!

"Way over there?" He asks. "What was he doing there? I would've thought he'd be hungry and make his way to the barn. That tree is no where near the high country trail where you said you lost him. Chance would've had to pass by the barn to get to the old oak tree."

He's right! Now what? Guthrie's quiet. I hope he says something soon otherwise Crane's going to be suspicious.

Crane asks, "are you sure you lost him by the high country trail?"

Before Guthrie can answer I blurt out, "yep, that's where we lost him! I bet he wasn't hungry that's why he probably didn't go to the barn this morning. He must've ate a lot of grass."

"There's grass all over the place," Crane says. "Why would he go to the old oak tree?"

"I guess he likes that grass better," I tell him and I hear Guthrie whisper, "be quiet."

"Here's what I think," Crane says, "I think you guys weren't by the high country trail." When neither one of us says anything he asks, "am I right?"

Brian comes riding up fast and he's yelling Crane's name. "Crane! We got a dead calf! Get your shotgun! Adam and I saw a pack of coyotes leaving the area."

"This late in the morning?" Crane asks.

"Yes, they must be rabid," Brian says. "Get your gun and meet us out at the north gate."

"Who's _us_?" I ask Brian as Crane rides off.

"Adam and Ford!" Brian yells as he rides off.

"That's perfect!" I tell Guthrie.

"I know!"

"Let's ride faster. We've got to get Lucy saddled up and get the treasure map and.."

"Hold on," Guthrie says. "We have to do our chores and eat breakfast first."

Oh yeah. I am kind of hungry.

"And just because Adam, Brian and Crane are gone doesn't mean Hannah's not gonna suspicious of where we've been."

"We can just tell her we were worried about Chance so we got up early to go look for him," I suggest.

"Yeah, that sounds good. But don't tell her where we found him, and don't tell her Chance likes the grass better somewhere else."

"Why can't Chance like the grass somewhere else better?"

"Because that sounds unbelievable," Guthrie says.

"No it doesn't. Maybe Chance really _does_ like the grass better by the old oak tree..."

"Heidi, we didn't find Chance by the old oak tree. Remember?"

"Oh right. I forgot. But he could like the grass better somewhere..."

"Ok, ok! Chance likes the grass better by the old oak tree. Can we stop talking about it now? We've got other things to talk about. What are we gonna do if Bart shows up?"

"Can we call him Jeb? I like that name better."

"His name is Bart. We need to.."

"Jeb."

Guthrie sighs. "Ok. We need to figure out what to do about _Jeb_. We need some way of protecting ourselves and the map and the boxes of diamonds."

We're quiet now and I think. "I know! "We could bring a bottle of alcohol. You know, one of the bottles high up in the cupboard in the kitchen. I bet he'd leave us alone for that."

Guthrie laughs. "I bet you're right, but I don't think that's going to work. We should come up with another plan."

"We could tie him up."

"How? He's stronger than us."

"All _four_ of us?"

Guthrie's quiet. Then he says, "no, I don't think we could do that. It would probably be against the law."

We're at the barn now so I slide off Chance. "We could hit him over the head with a big stick."

Guthrie laughs again. "Let's think about it some more while we eat breakfast. I'm gonna leave Chance's saddle on since we're going to be leaving soon. I'll race you to the house!"

I watch Guthrie take off running towards the house. We really do have a big problem if Jeb shows up at the mine today. How are we gonna stop him? And how are we gonna stop him from untying our horses? I can't lose Lucy. I start running after Guthrie now. We've got a lot to plan and only a short time to do it in.

* * *

><p>"Where's Hannah?" I ask Evan when Guthrie and I run inside the house.<p>

"Daniel took her to work."

I smile. This morning just keeps getting better and better! We walk into the kitchen with Evan.

"Hannah left some breakfast for you by the stove," Evan says. "She also packed a lunch for you. She thought you'd go look for buried treasure again today."

"Did she ask where we were?" Guthrie asks.

"No, she didn't have time too. I met her and Daniel at the jeep just as they were leaving."

"Perfect!" I say.

"Yeah, you guys got lucky this morning." Evan takes the orange juice out of the refrigerator. "Do you guys want some?" We both say yes so he gets two more glasses out and pours orange juice in them. He sets our glasses down on the table and then he brings his over and sits down. It looks like Hannah left some breakfast for him too.

Guthrie brings a plate over to me and I look at what's on it. Bacon, two pancakes and some scrambled eggs that are probably cold. I'm too hungry to care though. I sit down at the table to eat while Guthrie brings the butter and syrup over.

"Evan," I start to ask, "how would you stop someone from trying to rob you?" I look over at Guthrie and he's staring at Evan waiting for him to answer. Good. I thought he was going to be mad at me for asking that.

"I don't know. I guess I'd beat him up."

"What if he was bigger than you?" I ask.

"Maybe I'd hit him over the head with something. Something big."

I look at Guthrie and smile. He looks at me and shakes his head.

"What if you couldn't find something to hit him over the head with?" Guthrie asks.

Evan thinks. "I guess I'd run."

I sigh. That's not a good answer.

"Why do you guys want to know?" He smiles at us. "Is someone going to rob you today?"

"Yes," I start to say, but Guthrie kicks me under the table so I stop talking.

Evan laughs. " Who's going to rob you?"

"No one," Guthrie says quickly. "Heidi's just being funny."

Evan gets up. "I've got to go get my chores done. I can't be late to rodeo class today. We've got a new bronc coming today and I want to be the first one to ride it."

He puts his dishes in the sink and walks to the back door. "Oh, I almost forgot. Hannah wanted me to tell you to be sure and be back early today. Her, Adam, Crane and Isabella are going out on a double date tonight."

"Why not Brian and Laura too?" I ask.

"I don't know," Evan says and he puts his hand on the door knob.

"Wait! If they're going out, who's watching us?" I ask.

"I don't know. I'm busy tonight and I'm pretty sure Daniel and Ford are too. I guess Brian's watching you." Evan goes out the back door and I look at Guthrie.

"That should be fun," I tell Guthrie.

He shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess that depends on if he's still mad at us."

Oh right. I forgot about that.

"Hurry and finish eating Heidi," Guthrie says as he puts the last bite of his pancake on his fork. "We've got to get going if we have to be home early. We still have to do our chores too." He puts the bite in his mouth and gets up and carries his dishes to the sink. "Meet me out by the barn!" He yells and he runs to the back door and I watch him leave.

I look down at my plate. I've got half a pancake and all my eggs left. I hurry and finish my pancake. The eggs I'll throw away. I don't like cold eggs. I take my dishes to the sink and set them in it. I start to run to the back door but then I stop. I know Guthrie said bringing a bottle of alcohol wouldn't stop Jeb from bugging us, but I think he's wrong.

I go get the stool by the stove and drag it over to the cupboards by the sink. I stand up on the stool and open the cupboard door. This is where my brothers keep the bottles of alcohol. They don't drink it too much, and when they do, it's mostly because a guest is over. Usually if the guest is an old person. Like Jeb. My brothers mostly just drink beer. But sometimes they have a small glass of something from one of these bottles. I look at the bottles. There are four bottles of alcohol on the top shelf. Two tall ones, one with white alcohol, the other brown, and two smaller bottles. Those bottles are brown glass so I can't see what color the alcohol is. I pick up a small bottle and look at it.

It feels light. Almost like it's empty. I unscrew the cap and look inside. Eww! It stinks! There's not much alcohol inside so I screw the cap back on and put the bottle back. I lift the other small bottle up and it feels light too. I set it back down and look at the two tall bottles. Both are almost completely full. Hmm. White, or brown? I choose..., white. "Vodka," I say out loud as I read the label. I set the bottle on the counter and jump off the stool. Now I just have to hide this from Guthrie in my pack. I put the stool back, put the bottle of vodka under my shirt and run out the back door. I sure hope nobody sees me because this bottle is way too big to hide under my shirt. It definitely looks like I'm hiding something. Oh well, it's worth the risk. I'm 'sure' this will stop Jeb from bugging us.

* * *

><p>Guthrie and I were able to do our chores and get Lucy and Chance packed up with no one seeing us. I hid the bottle of vodka in my pack so Guthrie couldn't see it. As long as he doesn't go through my pack, he'll never see it.<p>

The ride to the mine seemed shorter today. A lot shorter. I guess that's because we're so excited. We ride up to the mine to see if John and Kenny are here, but they're not.

"Let's get Lucy and Chance settled first and then we'll look at the map," Guthrie says.

"Ok." We ride over to the tree we've been tying the horses to but I'm afraid. "Guthrie, can't we tie them closer to the mine? That way we can keep a better eye on them."

"No, the water is over here. They need to be next to it, you know that. Besides, we'll be inside the mine. We're not gonna know if Bart, I mean Jeb, is gonna be here today. If he shows up we're not gonna know it no matter how close the horses are to the mine."

I guess he's right. I slide down from Lucy and start to take my pack off of her. The buckle is stuck and Guthrie walks over to help me.

"Let me help," he says and he reaches up to unbuckle my pack.

I shove him away and he almost falls on the ground.

"Jeez Heidi! What was that for?"

"Sorry," I tell him. "It's just..., well, I can do it myself." I fiddle with the buckle a little and it comes undone. "See?"

"All you had to do was say no thanks. You didn't have to push me," he says.

"I really am sorry...,"

"Never mind. Let's get the map out. If we have to be home early we'd better find out the quickest way to the X's."

"What about John and Kenny?" I ask.

"They should be here soon. If not, they'll find us."

Guthrie takes the wooden box out of his pack and opens it up. He takes the map out and unfolds it. We both look at it.

"Look," Guthrie says as he points to a drawing on the map. "There are two X's at the cabin."

I look at where he's pointing. It looks like a small drawing of a house. I think I'm looking at it upside down so I turn the map. "Oh yeah," I say. "That looks like the cabin. It looks like the X's are in the floor."

"That must mean they're under the cabin," Guthrie says. Then he points to another part of the map that looks like a drawing of a winding road. "This is the mine."

I look at it more closely. "Oh, I see it now." I point to the first X in the mine. "That's where we found the box."

"Right. And see, if we follow this curve instead of going straight, we'll find this X." Guthrie moves his finger along the drawing of the mine and stops at the second X.

I look beyond that X. "Guthrie, the last two X's look like they're very far away from the opening of the mine."

"I know. Maybe we'll work on the other X's first and save those two for when we have more time."

John and Kenny run up to us.

"Show us the map!" They both yell excitedly. Guthrie shows them the map while I open the wooden box and take out the keys.

"Look!" I hold the keys out to them and they each take one to look at.

"These look like they'd fit the little lock on the box perfectly!" John says.

"I know! What do you think we'll find in the boxes?" I ask John.

"Probably diamonds. I bet...,"

"Let's get busy and dig up these boxes so we don't have to wonder anymore," Kenny says.

We all agree and decide the best X's to dig up first are the ones at the cabin. Guthrie folds the map back up and shoves it in his pack along with the little wooden box. We all pick up our packs and put them on our backs. When we start to walk off I remind Guthrie about the horses.

"Are you sure they're going to be ok here?" I ask him.

"It's the best place for him to be," he reminds me.

"What's wrong?" John asks.

Guthrie says, "Heidi's worried Bart is going to come and untie our horses."

"Jeb," I remind him.

John looks at me and then at Lucy and Chance. "Oh right. That wouldn't be good." He sets his pack down and walks over to Lucy. "I've got an idea."

We all put our packs down and follow him. He takes the end of Lucy's rope and starts tying another knot in it.

"What are you doing?" Kenny asks.

"If Bart, I mean Jeb," I smile when he says that, "comes back, he might be so drunk he'll have a hard time untying a whole bunch of knots. Help me."

"That's a great idea!" Guthrie yells and he starts tying more knots in Chance's rope. Kenny helps him.

"There," John says after he's tied the fifth knot in Lucy's rope. "That oughta keep him busy!"

I agree. I look at John and he's smiling at me. John is pretty smart. I like that.

"Let's go!" Kenny says and he picks his pack up. The rest of us do the same. When we start to walk off I remember the bottle of alcohol in my pack.

"I'll catch up to you," I tell them.

John stops walking to look at me. "I'll wait."

"No, that's ok. I'll just be a minute."

"Are you sure?" He asks.

"Come on John!" Kenny yells. "She'll catch up!"

He runs off and I walk up to Lucy and Chance and set my pack down. I take the bottle of vodka out of my pack and look at it. I know the knots in the ropes will keep Jeb busy, but I still think this will work too. I set the bottle on the ground and lean it against the oak tree the horses are tied up to. He should see it sitting here when he goes to untie the horses.

"There. Bye Lucy," I pat her, and then Chance. "Hopefully Jeb won't come today. If he does, you have my permission to kick him. Kick him good!" I give her one last pat and pick up my pack. I put it on my back and run to catch up with the boys.

* * *

><p>"It's..., just..., a little..., further," Guthrie says as we follow behind him.<p>

We're crawling on our stomachs, I guess that's not crawling, it's more like dragging ourselves along the dirt underneath the cabin. We can't stand up, or sit up, or even crawl on our hands and knees. We have to drag ourselves.

"It's cold under here," I say out loud to anyone who will listen. "It's dark too." We're using our flashlights while we follow Guthrie when all of a sudden he stops.

"Here it is!" He yells.

We drag ourselves to him and around him so we're in a circle around a white painted X.

"What do we do now?" I ask.

"Dig," Kenny says.

"How? We're all cramped up."

"Like this," Guthrie says and he starts scraping away at the X.

"How do you think old Jeremiah painted this X under here?" I ask.

"Who cares," Kenny says. "Just dig."

The four of us start scraping and digging around the X as best as we can. It's harder to dig this way, but we're able to do it. After a while I stop digging because I keep getting dirt in my mouth. We're making a lot of dust by digging under here and there's no where for the dust and dirt to go except in our faces.

"Breathe through your nose," John says when he sees I've stopped digging and am spitting dirt out of my mouth.

"Yeah," Kenny says, "breathe through your nose so you can start digging again. We've got more X's to dig up besides this one."

I start digging again and I keep my mouth shut, but dirt gets in my nose too. I look at the big hole we've made. It's probably about two feet wide and six inches deep. We're running out of room to put the dirt we're digging up so we push it down our sides with our hands. I'm getting tired of digging so I stop to take a break. Guthrie starts digging on my side.

"How far do you think we'll have to dig?" I ask.

"I don't know," Guthrie says, "probably far. It is diamonds after all."

"Yeah, it's not gonna be buried in a shallow hole," Kenny says.

I sigh and start digging again. It feels like we've been digging for hours, and the hole doesn't look any deeper. "Are you sure there's something buried here?" I ask.

"No," Guthrie says. "It's just an X on the map."

"For all we know this could be a decoy X," Kenny says.

"What's that?" I ask while I watch them dig.

"An X where nothing's buried to keep us off the trail," John says.

"What trail?" I ask.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Kenny yells.

He puts his shovel down and starts moving dirt away with his hands. "It's another wooden box!" He yells. We watch him struggle to take something out of the hole. He tugs and then pokes around something with his shovel. Then he tugs some more until the box finally comes out. He wipes the dirt away from the top of the box with his hand and shines his flashlight on it. We all shine our lights on it.

"It's got the same gold writing on it that the other box has!" He yells.

"Let's open it!" I yell.

"Let's get out of here and open it outside," Guthrie suggests. We'll be able to see better out there."

The four of us crawl on our stomachs really fast to the edge of the cabin where we crawled in. Once we're out we look at the box Kenny is holding.

"It has the same padlock like the other box had!" Guthrie says.

"Quick! Get the keys!" I yell, but Guthrie's already running to his pack to get them. We run after him.

Guthrie pulls the wooden box out of his pack and opens it up. He takes out the keys and I yell, "let me open it! Give me the keys!" I try to grab the box out of Kenny's hands.

"I found it!" He yells. "Let 'me' open it!"

"Here," Guthrie says and he holds out the five keys laying in his hand. "Let's each take one, and Kenny can have the fifth key since he found the box."

We all agree and we each take a key. Guthrie gives Kenny the last one. "You try one of your keys first," John tells Kenny.

I watch closely while Kenny tries to put his little golden key in the lock. "It won't go in."

I must've been holding my breath because I let out a big sigh. Kenny passes the box to John and John takes his key and tries to put it in the lock. It goes in! We all yell, "yes," but when John tries to turn the key, it won't turn.

"This one doesn't work either," he says and he passes the box to me. I sit down on the ground so I can hold the box better and hold the lock at an angle. I try to put my key in and it goes in just like John's did. We're all quiet as I slowly turn the key in the lock. "It's opening!" I yell.

The key turns all the way and the lock pops open. I take it off the box and slowly open the wooden lid. I look inside and gasp.

"What?!" The boys yell. "What is it?!"

I keep the box open and show them what's inside and they all gasp too.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

><p>Inside the box are diamonds! Five small diamonds!<p>

"Do you think those are real diamonds!" We all yell at the same time.

I take one out of the box to look at it closer. It's tiny. Barely the size of..., I don't know, I can't think of anything that's as small as this. "It's so shiny," I say while I hold it up to the sun a little bit. I didn't realize someone took the box out of my hand. The boys are all holding a diamond up too.

"I didn't think they'd be so small," Kenny says.

"I know. I wonder how much it's worth," John says.

"I bet it's worth a million dollars!" I say.

"Heidi, I don't think so," Guthrie says.

"How do you know? It might be small, but it's still a diamond."

Guthrie picks the box up off the ground and takes the last diamond out. "Hey look! There's a piece of paper in here."

I don't want to look at a piece of paper when I'm holding a diamond. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Guthrie holding a yellowish looking paper and he's unfolding it.

"Gold!" He yells.

I almost drop my diamond.

John yells, "what?! What are you talking about?"

"Look!" Guthrie holds out two small gold nuggets. "They were inside the paper!"

"Wow!" John says.

"I wonder how much _those_ are worth," Kenny says.

"This is a note," Guthrie says and he reads what's on the paper. "Property of Jedediah Smith."

"That's it?" John asks.

Guthrie turns the paper over. "No! The back says, 'beware.'"

"Beware?" Kenny asks and Guthrie hands him the paper. "Beware," he reads and he hands the paper to John.

I look at the paper while John holds it. The paper looks old. It looks like an old paper you'd see in a museum. A gold rush museum. The writing is in pencil that looks faded, and it's written in cursive. Just like old museum letters in display cases.

"What do you think it means?" Guthrie asks. "Beware?"

"Who cares!" I say. "We're rich!"

"I don't know about that," Guthrie says. "First we have to find out if this stuff is real."

"Yeah," John says. "We're not gonna get rich with this. I don't know how much the diamonds are worth, but the gold looks like it might be a couple hundred dollars. Split four ways that's not a lot."

"But guys! You're forgetting, there are _four_ more boxes!" I say.

"True, there are four more X's on the map, and four more keys," Guthrie says, "but that doesn't mean there are boxes buried there. Remember the first box only had a map and keys inside of it."

"What are we waiting for?!" Kenny yells. "Let's go find the other X under the cabin!"

He starts to run off but Guthrie says, "wait! What do we do with this stuff? What if Bart comes around?"

"We need to hide it," John says.

"We need to keep it with us," Kenny says.

"Ok, Heidi, you hold the box," Guthrie says.

"Ok!" I take the box and John hands me the letter and then we all put our diamonds back inside it and Guthrie puts the gold nuggets back.

"Should we lock it?" I ask.

"Yes. Here," John hands me the little padlock and I put it on the box and lock it.

"Now give someone the key," Kenny says. "That way, if you lose the box, or if someone takes the box, they don't have the key to open it."

"Good idea," John says.

I hand the key to John and he puts it in his front pocket.

"Let's get back to work," Guthrie says. "We should be able to find the other box under the cabin and one of the X's in the mine before we have to go home."

"Right," Kenny says.

The four of us walk towards the porch of the cabin and we each crouch down to go underneath the porch and then crawl under the cabin until we have to crawl on our stomachs. I'm last. Probably because it's hard for me to crawl while I'm holding the box. But I follow behind the boys. I wonder what's hidden at the next X.

* * *

><p>"Keep digging," Guthrie says. "There's gotta be something buried here."<p>

The four of us are digging where we think the other X is supposed to be. We couldn't find a painted X like where the other box was buried. It's hard to see under the cabin, not only because we have to use flashlights, but also because we can't sit up under here. We have to lay on the ground and this place where we're digging is even more cramped than the last place.

"This is hard work," I say and I put my small shovel down. "We've already dug deeper than at the other hole."

"I know. Are you sure this is the right spot?" Kenny asks Guthrie.

"I'm positive."

"Then how come there isn't an X to see like the other spot?" I ask.

"I don't know, maybe it got washed away," he says. "If you want we can stop digging here and dig someplace else, but we've crawled all around under here and haven't seen any other X's."

He's right. Kenny looked all over underneath the cabin when we didn't see an X where it was supposed to be.

"Let's dig for a little while longer," John suggests. "I'd hate to dig this far down only to stop and find out later if we'd just dug a little deeper we'd find a box."

"I know," Guthrie says. "Let's keep digging. If we don't find something soon, we'll quit and go look in the mine."

We all agree and I start digging again. After a few minutes of all of us digging, Guthrie yells, "found it!"

John, Kenny and I shine our flashlights where Guthrie is digging.

"At least I think I found it. It's something hard and..., yep, it's a box!" He puts his shovel down and starts tugging at something. "This one's easier to get out. It's smaller." He pulls out a small wooden box. It's about half the size of the other two boxes we've found.

"Let's get out of here and open it outside!" John yells.

The four of us crawl on our stomachs over to the front porch and get out from underneath the cabin.

"Open it! Open it!" I yell. The box is made from the same kind of dark wood the other two boxes are made of, but this one doesn't have any writing on the lid.

"Take the keys out," Kenny tells John.

John opens the box we found yesterday and takes the four remaining keys out. He hands one to each of us. "Guthrie, you try your key first."

Guthrie puts his little key in and it goes in the lock and when he turns the key the lock pops open.

"It worked!" I yell.

We all watch Guthrie take the padlock off and open the box. "Gold!" He yells. "Gold!"

"Let me see!" I yell and the three of us crowd around Guthrie as close as we can get. We're all touching each other as we watch Guthrie take four gold nuggets out of the box.

"And look! There's another piece of paper!" He puts the nuggets back in the box and takes out the paper. He unfolds it and reads, "property of Jedediah Smith." He turns the paper over and reads, "beware. You are cursed."

"What?!" Kenny says. Guthrie shows him the paper and he reads it out loud.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"I don't know," Guthrie says.

John's been looking at the gold nuggets and he says, "uh guys, these aren't nuggets." We look at his hand and he says, "these are teeth!"

He's right! We each take one and look at it. They're definitely in the shape of teeth.

"Ew! These were in somebody's mouth!" I yell.

"Yep," Kenny says.

"How'd he get them out? Do you think he pulled them out, or did they fall out, or did somebody die and he took them out of their mouth?" I ask.

"Who knows," Kenny says. All I know is these are gold and they're worth money."

"A lot of money?" I ask.

"Probably not _a lot_ of money," John says, "but who cares. It's worth something."

"And if we add it to the gold and diamonds we already found it'll be more money," Guthrie says.

"What do you think we'll find in the other boxes?" I ask.

"Who knows, let's go to the mine and find out," Kenny says.

We all agree and we put the teeth back in the little box and Guthrie closes it and puts the little padlock back on.

"Who should have the key?" Guthrie asks.

"You guys have packs," John says. "Put the boxes in one pack and the keys in the other."

Kenny agrees that would be best too since him and John don't have packs. They've been carrying their shovels and flashlights in belts that look like tool belts but they're not, because I don't see any tools. I do see something that looks like a lunch bag though. Guthrie puts the boxes in his pack and he puts the keys in the bottom of my pack.

"Let's get to the mine," Guthrie says. We all start walking and Guthrie asks, "what time is it?"

"It feels like lunch time," I say because my stomach growls.

"It's twelve thirty," John says. "Do you guys want to eat lunch first and then go to the mine?"

"No, I want to go find another X," Kenny says. "Let's eat our lunch on the way."

It's about a fifteen minute walk back to the mine so we all get our lunches out and eat while we walk. We talk about the diamonds and how much we think they're worth, and the gold nuggets and teeth. We talk about what we're gonna buy with the money too.

"What do you think the letters in the boxes means?" Guthrie asks.

"I don't know," John says, "beware of what?"

"And what's the curse?" Kenny asks.

"I don't think it means anything," Guthrie says. "It was probably just written to scare people."

"Hey," I say, "maybe the curse is Jedediah's ghost haunting you!"

The boys laugh. "There's no such things as ghosts," Kenny says.

"I tell her that all the time," Guthrie says.

"You don't know they don't exist!" I say. "Ghosts are invisible so how do you know if they're real or not?"

"Because they don't exist!" Kenny says. "There's no such thing as a ghost!" He laughs more and I start to get mad.

"Well, I think they're are such things as ghosts!" I yell at him. "How else do you explain noises that happen when no one's around?"

Kenny laughs some more and John says, "let's not make fun of her. Heidi believes in them so let's just leave it at that," John says.

I look at John and I feel a little surprised.

"I agree," Guthrie says.

"Ok, but you guys know there's no such thing," Kenny says and he laughs some more. He picks up a rock and throws it at the big rock were coming up to. That means we're almost at the mine.

When we get to the big rock we stop and stare over at the horses. Jeb is there!

"Oh gosh!" Kenny says. "Quick! Get behind the rock!"

The four of us run behind the rock and Kenny peeks out from behind it.

"He's sitting down and leaning against the oak tree."

"Are the horses ok?" Both Guthrie and I ask at the same time.

"Yes. They're ignoring him," Kenny says.

"What's he doing?" John asks. "How come he's not trying to untie the horses?"

"He's drinking," Kenny says.

"Let me see." I push my way by Kenny and peek out from behind the rock. Sure enough, Jeb is sitting on the ground leaning against the tree drinking from the bottle of alcohol I put out for him. "I knew it would work!"

"What?" Guthrie asks and he peeks around the rock.

"I told you we should bring some alcohol for him to drink and he would forget all about untying the horses. So I brought some," I tell him. I smile really big because I'm happy my plan worked.

"Heidi," Guthrie says, and he doesn't sound too happy, "where'd you get that bottle from?"

"The kitchen."

Guthrie groans and says, "why'd you do that?"

I'm confused. "So he would drink instead of let the horses go."

"But you took it without asking," he starts to say and I interrupt him.

"I know, because no one would ever let me take it if I asked."

"So what's gonna happen when they find it missing?" Guthrie asks. He's staring at me and he's not happy.

I think. "I didn't think about that part."

"Exactly," Guthrie says.

"We could get the bottle back and I could sneak it back," I suggest.

"He's drinking it! Was the bottle full, or half way full?"

"Full," I say quietly.

"He's probably gonna drink at least half of it before he passes out," John says.

"So when he passes out," Kenny says, "we'll take the bottle from him and you can take it home...,"

"But it'll only be half full!" I cry.

"Hold on," Kenny says, "I was going to say, when you get home just fill the bottle with water. What color is the bottle?"

"Clear," I tell him.

"What color is the stuff inside it?" Kenny asks.

"Clear."

"See, just like water," Kenny says. "Just fill it with water and put it back. That's what my older brother does."

"But what happens when their brothers go to drink it?" John asks.

"Do they drink from it a lot?" Kenny asks.

"No, hardly ever," Guthrie says.

"Perfect," John says. "Fill it with water, put it back, and then a month from now, or whenever they drink it, they'll wonder why it tastes so weak and they'll just think the bottle's bad, or old or something."

Guthrie and I look at each other. "It's worth a try," he says.

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess that's what I have to do."

"We're not gonna get to dig for any more buried treasure today guys," John says.

"Why not?" Kenny asks.

"Because Bart, I mean, Jeb is here." I smile when he says that. "We need to wait for him to pass out and then untie the horses and get out of here before he wakes up."

"You're right," Guthrie says. "We don't want him to find us digging in the mine. He'll just bug us and try to take the treasure for himself."

John sighs. "I guess we just need to sit and wait for him to pass out."

The four of us sit on the ground and lean against the big rock. I can hear Jeb talking to himself. "What's he saying?"

"I don't know," Guthrie says. "I think he's talking to the horses."

I pick up a little rock and throw it at a tree a few feet away from us.

"Who's there?!" Jeb yells.

The boys look at me and I say, "he heard that?"

"Apparently," Kenny says. "Be quiet, I'll check on him." Kenny stands up and he peeks out from behind the rock. The three of us stand up too and wait for Kenny to tell us what he sees. "He's standing up, only I don't think he can walk. He's trying too, but he keeps leaning over. He keeps holding the bottle up in the air too. What was in the bottle?"

"I don't know. Something that starts with a V."

"Probably vodka," Kenny says. "I think he's drank almost half the bottle so it shouldn't be long before he passes out."

"I can hear you!" Jeb yells. "I bet you're behind that rock!"

I gasp. I feel a little scared now.

"Don't worry," Kenny says, "he can't walk." Kenny laughs quietly and says, "he just fell."

I don't really think it's funny. It sounds kind of sad to me. "Is he ok?" I ask.

"Yeah, he's sitting up taking another drink."

"Don't you feel sorry for him?" I ask.

John says yes and so does Guthrie. "I don't know," Kenny says. Then he says, "wait, I think he's passed out."

"Is he dead?" I ask.

"I doubt it. Let me go see if he's really passed out." Kenny walks out from behind the rock and the three of us peek around it. Kenny is walking slow at first, but then he starts walking normal, I think because Jeb isn't moving. When he gets to Jeb he taps him with his foot. Nothing happens. Gosh I hope Jeb's not dead!

"Can you die from drinking too much alcohol?" I whisper.

"I don't think so," Guthrie whispers. "I bet Hannah would know.

"I don't think so either," John whispers.

Kenny comes running back to us and he says, "come on, he's passed out."

"How do you know?" I ask. "How do you know he's not dead?"

"He's snoring," Kenny says. "Hurry up and get your stuff. We gotta get out of here before he wakes up."

I grab my pack and run with the boys over to the horses. When I pass by Jeb I stop to look at him. He's snoring alright. He sounds like Brian when he snores. Loud!

"Come on Heidi!" Guthrie calls to me.

I look at Jeb. He looks peaceful, and I don't want to wake him, but he's holding the bottle of alcohol still. Guthrie runs back to me and I point to the bottle.

Guthrie reaches down slowly and puts his hand on the bottle. I feel scared. I hope this doesn't wake Jeb up. Guthrie slowly lifts the bottle up and out of Jeb's hand. Jeb moves a little and I feel scared that he's going to wake up, but he doesn't.

"I feel so sorry for him," I whisper to Guthrie.

"I know, me too, but there's nothing we can do to help him. He'll probably wake up in an hour or two and hitchhike back to town. Come on Heidi. We have to go."

I follow Guthrie to the horses where Kenny and John are busy untying the knots we made.

"I wish we didn't do this," John says. "It's gonna take us a long time to get these undone."

Guthrie hands me the bottle of alcohol and says, "look around for the cap. If you can't find it, we have to dump the rest." He walks over to help Kenny untie knots.

I look around on the ground by the tree trunk. The cap has to be here somewhere. I walk around the tree trunk in a circle hoping I'll find it.

"Maybe we should cut the rope off," Kenny says. "We're no where near getting this knot undone and it's the first one."

"I know," John says, "I'm having trouble with this one. Did either of you bring your pocket knife?"

Guthrie and Kenny say they have theirs. They're lucky. I got my pocket knife taken away so I don't have one anymore. Kenny pulls his out of his back pocket and Guthrie runs to his pack to get his.

"This is gonna take forever too!" Kenny says as he starts cutting at the rope at the part where the knots end.

I watch him saw back and forth with his knife. I don't think you can cut thick rope like that with a pocket knife. Guthrie does the same on Lucy's rope.

"I'll keep working on the knots," John says.

I look around the ground some more for the bottle cap and finally find it. I pick it up and screw it on the bottle as tight as I can make it. Then I run to my pack and put in inside. I see the little gold keys at the bottom of my pack. I can't wait to see what's buried at those other X's in the mine!

"Heidi, come help," Guthrie calls over.

I run back to the boys and work on a knot on Chance's rope. I can tell right away this is going to take a looooong time. I look over at Jeb. He's still in the same position. That's good. I hope he stays like that for a long time too.

* * *

><p>The boys gave up on using their pocket knives to cut the rope. When Guthrie got tired of cutting, John took over and when Kenny got tired, I took over for him while he worked on the knots. Guthrie just finished the last knot.<p>

"Finally!" Guthrie says.

"Sh!" John says. "We don't want to wake Jeb up."

We all look over at Jeb and he's still lying in the same position.

"Do you think he's dead now?" I ask.

"No, he's just passed out," Kenny says. "Let's get out of here!"

Guthrie and I tie our packs to the horses and then we walk them over to a log lying on the ground. It's a big log so I have to push myself up onto it and then I get on Lucy. I pat her neck and watch Guthrie get on Chance.

"We'll meet you here tomorrow," Guthrie tells Kenny and John.

"Alright," John says. "Don't forget to bring the keys and the boxes with you."

"And the map," Kenny adds.

"We won't."

We all say goodbye and Guthrie and I ride off on the trail towards the road.

* * *

><p>When we get to our driveway we stop and look around. We've been pretty lucky so far that no one's seen the direction we've come from. We ride around to the pasture fence so it looks like we're coming from that direction in case anyone sees us.<p>

"I can't believe how lucky we've been," Guthrie says.

"I know! I wonder where everybody is. What time is it?"

"Four o'clock."

"That's good, we're early."

We gallop up to the barn and I slide off Lucy.

"Let's hurry and get the saddles off the horses," Guthrie says. "We've got boxes and keys to hide and you have a bottle to put back."

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. I lead Lucy into the barn. "Cleo!" I yell when I see her. She's sitting on a hay bale with Suzy's bottle.

"Hi Heidi," she says as she smiles over at me and then she laughs. "Have you seen how dirty you are?"

I look down at my clothes. I guess they are pretty dirty. Oh well, dirt can be washed out. I start to unbuckle my pack from Lucy's saddle when Ford walks over.

"Where have you been?" He asks. "You're so dirty! It looks like you've been crawling around on the ground on your stomach!" He laughs and I look over at Guthrie. Ford says, "how'd you get so dirty?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. We were just playing around."

"Did you dig for buried treasure today?" He asks. Cleo hands him the empty bottle and he takes it from her.

"Yep!" I smile really big.

"You're smiling," Ford says. "Did you find something?"

I smile even bigger, but before I can tell Ford what we found today Guthrie yells, "no! We didn't find anything!"

I look at him and I can tell from his eyes he doesn't want me to tell Ford about the diamonds or gold we found. I wonder why.

"Ok," Ford says, "you don't have to tell me what it is. I can tell you found something by the look on Heidi's face." He smiles at me and I smile back.

I start taking off Lucy's saddle and while I do that I watch Cleo and Ford take care of their little calf. They have to give her some medicine and she doesn't like it. Ford tries to hold her but he doesn't get a good grip and she gets away. Luckily she doesn't go far. She's not very smart. If I were her I'd run as fast as I could to get away from yucky tasting medicine.

Cleo walks over to Suzy and leads her back over to the hay bales where Ford is waiting with the medicine. Cleo holds the calf this time and as soon as Ford puts the medicine near Suzy's mouth she tries to get away. Cleo falls backwards and sits down on the ground with a thud. She laughs because Suzy is playing keep away from Ford. I smile as I watch Ford try to catch her. When he finally does, he picks her up and walks back to Cleo and asks her if she's ok. The way Cleo is smiling up at Ford reminds me of the way Crane and Isabella look at each other sometimes. Hannah and Adam look at each other like that too. It looks like they're in love.

"Come on Heidi," Guthrie says, "finish taking the saddle off. We've got work to do."

I start to take the saddle off, but I can't help watching Ford and Cleo. They're having such a good time with each other. They're laughing and talking while they finally get Suzy to take her medicine. They seem so happy together. They love talking about the animals on the ranch and...

Guthrie is waving his hand in front of my face. "Heidi, get busy. You're staring at them."

I finish taking Lucy's saddle off and I put it away, and then I lead her out to the barn's pasture. Guthrie and I get our packs and walk to the house.

* * *

><p>"Why do we always hide stuff under <em>my<em> bed?" I ask Guthrie as he puts the last box under my bed.

"Because hardly anyone comes in here. If I hid them under the bunk beds someone would find them when they looked under the bed to get something."

He's right. My brothers are always looking for something under their bed. Their rooms aren't as messy as mine, but they still look for things under their bed.

"You should probably wait until after everyone leaves to put the bottle of alcohol back."

"Ok."

"Just leave it in your pack for now. I'm gonna go put my pack downstairs."

"Guthrie, why didn't you want to tell Ford what we found today?"

"I don't want to say where we're going yet. If we show them what we found they might not let us go back and we've got three more X's to find."

He picks his pack up and leaves my room. I guess he's right. We haven't found everything yet and it wouldn't be good if we couldn't go back to find it.

I follow Guthrie out to the hallway and down to the stairs, but I stop at Adam and Hannah's room because Hannah is in there.

"Hi," she says when she sees me come in.

"Hi. You look so pretty," I tell her while I stare at her.

"Thank you," she says while she puts an earning in her ear.

She's wearing a pretty blue dress that's made of a silky material. It's different than the regular dresses she wears. She also has her high heels out instead of her cowgirl boots. I take my boots off and then my socks so I can try her shoes on.

"Where are you going tonight?" I ask her as I put my right foot in the shoe and try to buckle it.

"Ironstone," she says.

"That's a fancy place. Why are you going there? Is Isabella paying? Because I know we can't afford that place." Why is it so hard to buckle this shoe? Why is the buckle so tiny?

Hannah laughs and says, "no Isabella's not paying. We're going to an anniversary party."

"For who?"

"Marie's cousin."

"What's the anniversary for?"

"Her cousin and his wife have been married for twenty five years."

"Wow! That's a long tine!" I finally get the shoe buckled so I put the other one on.

Hannah is putting a necklace on now. "It's not a long time if you love someone."

"Are they old?"

"They're in their forties," she says.

"That's old," I tell her. I try to buckle this shoes, but it's even harder to do than the other one. "How come Crane and Isabella are going?"

"Isabella knows the wife."

"Oh. What kind of party is it going to be? Will there be dancing?"

"Yes. We're having a fancy dinner...,"

"What does that mean? Steak?"

"No, prime rib. There will be cake and dancing."

"When will you be home? Late?"

"Probably."

"How come Brian's not going? He could take Laura and have another triple date with you."

"He doesn't know the people."

"Oh." I finally get the buckle buckled and I stand up. I wobble at first, but then I get my balance and I stand up straight. Hannah turns around and looks at me.

She smiles at first and then she looks shocked. "What happened to you? Your clothes are filthy!" She walks over to me and touches my hair. "You've got dirt in your hair too. It looks like you've been throwing dirt on yourself."

I laugh when she says that. "I didn't do that."

"Come look in the mirror."

I walk very carefully, well, I guess I should say, I wobbled very carefully over to her mirror. It's one of those mirrors you can see your whole self in. I look at myself. Oh my gosh! There's dirt all over my face and my clothes and my hair.

Hannah walks up behind me and says, "you, my dear, are taking a bath right now before we leave."

I groan. "Why now? Why can't I take it tonight before I go to bed?"

"Because you're filthy!"

"You don't think Brian will make me take a bath, do you?" I smile up at her.

She puts her hand under my chin and lifts my head up. "I didn't say that. I just can't stand looking at all this dirt on you."

I smile. "Why not? I like it."

She takes her hand away from my chin and messes up my hair. "Look at all that dirt!"

I laugh as dust flies from my hair.

"In the bath, now," she says. "Leave my shoes here."

"Aw, do you know how long it took me to get these buckled?"

"You didn't need to buckle them, they don't fit anyway. Just slip them off."

I didn't think about that. I wobble over to the bed so I can sit down and take them off. Adam walks in and he stares at me.

"What?" I ask.

"What happened to you?"

"Jeez, it's just a little bit of dirt," I tell him as I slip a shoe off.

"That's 'not' a 'little' bit of dirt," he looks at Hannah and smiles. "What do you think?"

"I think she needs to get in the bath."

"I agree," he says. "It looks like you were playing in a pig sty." He smiles at me.

"Ok, ok, just let me get this shoe off. This isn't mud you know, it's just dirt." I take the other shoe off and stand up.

"Where'd you get so dirty?" He asks.

I stare up at him. I don't know what to say. Should I say the same place as yesterday? No. I shrug my shoulders and say, "I don't know, just out on the ranch."

"Well, go get in the bath so I can get dressed," he says. He looks over at Hannah and smiles. "I guess I don't have time to take a quick shower since she needs to be in the bath?"

She smiles and says, "Heidi, the bath can wait a few minutes until after Adam takes a shower."

"Ha!" I tell Adam. "You have to get clean too!" I smile at him and he points to the door. When I walk past him he reaches out and grabs me and starts tickling me. I laugh and yell for him to stop. "Uncle! Uncle!"

He stops and says, "ew, now I've got dirt all over me!"

"You already had dirt all over you," I tell him and I try to tickle him.

"Ok you two," Hannah says, "I think you're both stalling so you don't have to get washed up."

Adam looks at me and smiles as he puts his finger to his lips. I laugh and leave their room. Adam shuts the door behind me. I wonder where Guthrie is. I bet he's in the kitchen. I run down the stairs to find out.

* * *

><p>Adam, Hannah, and Crane left while I was still in the bathtub. I was so dirty my bath water was dark, dark, brown. When I got out Guthrie told me Hannah told him he had to take a bath too, so he took one while I got dressed. I look at my pack on the floor and take out the bottle of alcohol. I guess this would be a good time to put it back. I walk to my doorway and peek out.<p>

No one's downstairs. I don't hear anyone in the kitchen either. I run down the hall and down the stairs hoping no one comes in. Once I'm in the kitchen I run to the sink and unscrew the bottle cap. Ew! This stuff stinks! I turn the faucet on and hold the bottle under the water. Hurry up, hurry up! I have to fill it close to the top with water and it feels like it's taking forever. When it's finally full I set it on the counter and run to the stool. I drag it over to the counter and climb on top of it. I reach down and pick up the bottle and then I reach up to put the bottle back. I almost have to stand on my tippy toes, I reach as high as I can and the back door opens.

It all is happening so fast! I look at Brian coming inside and I lose my balance. I start to fall and the bottle starts to slip and all of a sudden I'm looking up at Brian who's holding my with one arm and the bottle in the other hand.

"What are you doing with this?" He asks as he sets me down and stares down at me.

I stare up at him. Think brain think! What should I say? I don't know what to say!

"What were you doing?" He asks again.

I know! "I was putting it back."

"What were you doing with it?"

"Nothing."

He looks a little frustrated. "Why were you putting it back?"

"Because that's where it goes."

"I know that's where it goes. Why were you putting it back?"

"I already told you, that's where it goes."

Brian looks a little mad now. "What were you doing with it in the first place?"

"I wasn't doing anything with it. I already told you that too."

"Oh my gosh Heidi!" He yells. "Would you quit beating around the bush and answer my questions?!"

"What bush?" I ask.

He shakes his head and says, "never mind. Did you drink any of that vodka?"

"Ew! No!"

"Did you get it down?"

I nod my head. "Yes."

"Why?"

I can't answer that so I shrug my shoulders.

"What'd you mean you don't know why you got it down?"

"I don't know," I tell him. "That's why I put it back."

He shakes his head. "I don't know what you're up to, so don't take it down again," he says. "Don't even touch it. Do you understand me?"

I nod my head.

He puts the bottle back and shuts the cupboard door. "I still want to know..,"

The phone rings and he walks out into the living room and over to the phone on the big desk. He picks up the receiver and says to me, "you're saved by the bell," before he says, "hello."

His face starts to look happy. "Hi," he says. I think he's smiling. I wonder who he's talking to.

"Who is it?" I ask.

He turns away from me so I move around him.

"Well, I'm watching Guthrie and Heidi tonight," he says into the phone.

"Is it Laura?!"

"Bring them along?" He asks.

I jump up and down. "Yes! Bring us along! Bring us along!" I don't know where he's bringing us along to, but wherever it is, I want to go.

"Ok, I'll meet you there in a half hour." Brian hangs up the phone.

"Meet her where?! Meet her where?!" I yell.

"Calm down. Go find Guthrie, we're picking up Laura."

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Out to dinner," he says and he runs to the stairs.

"Are you taking a shower?" I yell to him as he runs up the stairs. He doesn't answer me, but I'm pretty sure he is because he has his shirt off before he closes the bathroom door. "Guthrie?!" I yell from the living room. I bet he's upstairs. I'm right. He opens the boys' bedroom door.

"What? I'm getting dressed." He puts his shirt on and tucks it into his jeans.

"We're going out!" I tell him. "Laura called and asked Brian out on a date and she said we could come too!"

Guthrie smiles. "Where are we going?"

"Brian didn't say. He's taking a shower right now. Do you think Laura's his girlfriend now?" I ask him.

Guthrie shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know."

"Maybe after tonight 'they' will be boyfriend and girlfriend!" I tell him. "We can do all kinds of things to get them together! And kiss, and..., we should make a plan!"

"I don't think we need a plan," Guthrie says. "It sounds like they're going out on a date and that's what you wanted right?"

"Yes, but it has to be the 'perfect' date!"

"How are you going to plan that? We're going to be on the date with them."

I smile. "Exactly! We'll be right there to make sure they fall in love with each other!"

Guthrie shakes his head. "I don't know about that," he says as he walks back into the bedroom. "I gotta get my boots. I'll be down in a minute."

I sit down in the big comfy chair to think of the perfect way to get Brian and Laura to fall in love.


End file.
